Three wicket blitz puts Grappers on road to victory

A DEVASTATING first over from paceman Gaz Burns put Grappenhall on track for a fine win over Oxton  in their Vivio Cheshire County League game at Broad Lane.
He took three overs – one thanks to a flying catch by Peter Barnes at second slip – to reduce the visitors to 6-3.
Grappers had won the toss and elected to bat first in a rain reduced game and had managed a respectable 199-4, despite losing early wickets. Peter Barnes hit 45, Ryan Ninan 48, Ben Botha 38 and Albert Pennington 29 not out.
Oxton never recovered from their disastrous start and, although they staged  stubborn resistance, Burns came back with two more wickets to finish with figures of 5-18 when the visitors were finally all out for 97.
The result cemented Grappers’ position as runners-up in the league table at the half-way stage.
Grappenhall 2nd won by one wicket at Oxton, with Ben  Bravington taking six wickets as the home side was bowled out for 139.  Grappers struggled at first but a fine 71 from Arthur Pennington steadied the ship and although wickets still fell the young tail held its nerve to reach their target with one wicket remaining.
It was a bad day for Grappers 3rd when they were routed for 78 and then watched  visiting Hyde chase down the runs for the loss of just one wicket.
This coming weekend, Grappenhall 1st will take on local rivals Warrington who went down at Oulton Park on Saturday.
The home side batted first and reached 163, with BGrad McIntosh taking 5-39. Warrington were bowled out for 106 with Liam Heaphy top scoring with 23.
Warrington 2nd lost by eight runs against Upton who battede first and were bowled out for 118, Chai Gadepalli taking 5-15. But the modest target proved too much for Warrington who were bowled out for 110, James Sharrock, 22 and Aaron Sonji, 29, being the only significant contributors.
In the Cheshire League, Lymm Oughtrington Park went down by six wickets at Hale Barns after being bowled out for 128, Mathew Carr 43 and Travis Scholes 49. Andy Hossack took 3-33 as the home side coasted to 129-4.
Appleton  lost by two wickets when they took on Aston at Lyons Lane.  Kanthiraj Gavaskar, 61 not out and Tom Lomas, 38 were the main scorers as Appleton hit 164.  Aston reached 165-8 despite good bowling with the Appleton bowlers sharing the wickets.
Warrington 4th were tumbled out for 38 at home to Neston, who lost only one wicket claiming victory.
In the Cheshire Alliance resurgent Glazebury triumphed over visiting Pott Shrigley at Hurst Lane.
Batting first, they reached 179-9, Jack Warhurst hitting 48 and Dave Acton 36. The visitors could find no answer to the pace of skipper Sam Stanier who took 7-38, with Acton chipping in with 2-24
Glazebury 2nd lost by four wickets at Frodsham after batting first and reaching a modest 87-7 in 45 overs. Alex McArthur top scored with 35. Frodsham replied with 88-6 despite Bruce Jardine taking 3-4 in seven overs.
Rylands got the better of a drawn game with visiting Frodsham. Batting first, they reached 208-5, Eddie Platt hitting 52, Alan Brady 51, Sean Peters 43 nand Sam Sparks 34.  Frodsham were 189-8 when time ran out, Matt Williamson 53 and Paul Wilkinson 41. Alan Thomas took 7-64.