WARRINGTON’S NEW-BALL MAGIC SECURES FINE VICTORY FOR NANTWICH
JIMMY Warrington was Nantwich’s bowling hero as they recorded a lowscoring victory at Alderley Edge in the Cheshire County League Premier Division.
Warrington had been dismissed off the final ball of the match going for the win in last week’s defeat by Chester Boughton Hall.
But his Saturday had a happier conclusion this time around as his exploits enabled the Dabbers to register a second league win in three outings.
Not that it looked likely early on in the afternoon as Nantwich were bundled out for just 98 on their road trip as Chris Sanders claimed 5-41 and Charlie Reid added 3-14.
Staffordshire all-rounder Aneesh Kapil dug in to score 27 up front for the visitors, before Ollie Griffiths added 30 late in the day.
And those two contributions proved to be pivotal in the context of the match.
Warrington then made the most of the new ball to run through the Alderley Edge order. The home side were skittled for a paltry 46 as Warrington finished with 6-27.
Opening partner Mitchell Spencer grabbed 2-18, while the left-arm spin of Griffiths yielded two late wickets to wrap up a remarkable success for Ray Doyle’s side.
· HASLINGTON recovered from a poor start with the bat to beat Ashton on Mersey at home in Cheshire County League Division Two.
Tom Gledhill’s men were set 161 for victory, but soon found themselves 9-3 in the run chase.
However, there was some muchneeded middle-order steel provided to ensure that the innings got firmly back on track.
All-rounder Ben Istead led the mission with 64, which contained half-a-dozen boundaries, while Jack Taylor chipped in with 32.
Those innings set the platform for Daniel Goodier to waltz to the crease and compile an unbeaten 27 to see Haslington to a two-wicket win with little more than two overs remaining.
Ed Faulkner (4-62) was the pick of the Ashton on Mersey attack.
He was also the star with the bat early on as well, constructing an unbeaten 69 to lead his side to 160-7 from their allocation.
Taylor claimed 3-28 for Haslington, while there were double strikes from Gledhill and Imran Khan.
· CONGLETON stood firm to secure a draw from their Cheshire County League Division One home meeting with Grappenhall.
The visitors’ powerful batting unit showcased their talent in the formative stages as they reached the halfway point with 284-5 on the board.
Adam Roylance blazed 111, off just 75 balls, hitting 10 fours and eight sixes.
Albert Pennington (44no) and Grant Hodnett (35) kept the run-rate at a high level throughout, while John Copeland picked up a couple of wickets.
Tom Leese (46), Jack Goode (40) and Ben Heades (37) starred for Congleton after tea, but they had to show defiance to reach stumps on 202-9 to earn a draw.
That was after Sam Guest helped himself to 4-33 and Arthur Pennington weighed in with a couple of wickets.
· MILFORD Hall made it three wins out of three in the South Staffs County League Premier Division after winning at Fordhouses.
Chris Dean struck three times early on more to leave Fordhouses reeling at 18-3, then Sahal Malvernkar added further damage before got in on the act without further addition to the score.
A 68-run partnership between Michael Gallear (58) and Jem Stack pulled the home side in to the game before the latter fell to Ejaz Nawaz for 40.
Another flurry of wickets - one each for Ejaz and Rob Firth along with a run out - saw Fordhouses reduced to 97-8 but Chris Guest with 33 helped the home side to a final total of 164.
Dean was Milford’s leading bowler as he ended with 4-38.
For the first time this season, Milford’s reply got off to a decent start with Waqar Saleem and Harry Flowers putting on 73 before the latter fell for a 40-ball 51.
Waqar and James Davis took Milford in sight of victory before Davis fell for 39 and, one run later, Waqar for 56. Two more wickets followed in quick succession before victory finally arrived.
The result leaves Milford level on points with Tamworth who top the table by virtue of their net run-rate after skittling Penkridge for 29.
· UTTOXETER secured their first Derbyshire County League Division Four South win of the season with victory at Ticknall seconds.
Uttoxeter had lost their opening two encounters, but got off the mark in style at the weekend.
Noah Magill’s 103 not out, allied to Jake Cherry’s 47, pushed Ticknall to 214-6 from their 45 overs.
But that target was no issue for Uttoxeter as Alex Hannon gave them a flying start with 57.
The baton was then handed over to Tim Powell (63no) and Josef Parker (41no) to see the visitors to a sixwicket triumph.
Jack Tolley claimed 3-49 for Ticknall.