Appleton’s late promotion bid gathers strength

APPLETON ‘S late charge for promotion to division two of the UKFast Cheshire Cricket League gathered strength with a seven wicket win at Lyons Lane.
The club climbed into second place in division three by crushing Chester County Officers.
A win next Saturday over third placed Langley would leave them poised to step up and fulfil skipper Alex Wright’s start-of-the-season assertion that “only promotion is acceptable.”
Despite a damp outfield, Cheshire County Officer chose to bat first but failed to sat a challenging total as Appleton’s bowlers restricted them to just 100 all out. A Thomas took 3-18.
Appleton’s reply was shaky, but Ali Sharif with 48 not out and Lee Stoll, 23 not out, shared an unbroken partnership of 67 for the fourth wicket to see the side home.
Appleton 2nds eased their relegation worries with a seven wicket win at Chester Broughton Hall. The home side ran up 182-5 from their 45 overs but Bob MacDonald, 90 not out and0*) and Ian Mason, 40 not out, saw Appleton home with overs to spare.
Appleton 4th recorded their third win of the season with a 34-run win at Frodsham. Ed Sygrove hit 87 and Danny Oliver 53 as Appleton posted 177-7 from their 45 overs. An excellent performance in the field saw Appleton bowl their opponents out for just 133.
In division one, Lymm Oughtrington Park’s battle to avoid relegation suffered another setback when they went down by six wickets at Kingsley.
Batting first, they were all out for 159 with Paul Tong hitting 40 and skipper Matthew Carr top scoring with 45.
But their bowling made little impression on the home side who reached their target with plenty of overs to spare.
Lymm 2nd inflicted a heavy defeat on Middlewich at Oughtrington Lane.
Skipper Dave Evans hit 81 and Steve Knowles 41 as Lymm declared on 211-3.
Middleweich were tumbled out for 87 with Graham Waumsley taking 5-9 in a remarkable spell of 5.3 overs.
Stretton were held to a draw at home against Ashley.
Batting first, Stretton totalled 209 all out, Wahab Aftab hitting 62 and Jagdish Ralnagin 49.
Ashley made little attempt at going for the runs and finished on 151-7.
Stretton 2nd won by two wickets at The Groves after holding the Wirral side to 141-6.
Glazebury’s in form opener Jack Warhurst hit 41 as the side totalled 156-8 at Winsford.
Skipper Anthony Meulman hit 26 and Dave Acton 24.
The home side were dismissed for 76 with Acton completing a fine all-round performance with 5-15 ahd Hakeem Dahou taking 3-22.
In the Vivio Cheshire County League, Grappenhall lost again to leave them in an increasingly desperate situation, second-to-bottom of the ECB premier division.
Winning the toss at Chester Boughton Hall, Grappers elected to bowl first and saw the home side declare on a challenging 260-6, despite Sam Guest’s 3-52.
Another below-par performance by the batsmen saw them rolled over for 100, with only skipper Adam Roylance, 22 and Ben Bodha, 26 getting into the twenties.
With three games left, it is still possible for Grappers to avoid relegation, but with two of them against fourth and fifth placed Toft and Neston, they face a big challenge.
Grappenhall 2nd also lost to the Chester side, who totalled 184-6 at Broad Lane despite Ross Arrowsmith’s 4-49.
Grappers were dismissed for 164, opener Steve Rooney hitting 64 and Matt Titchard hitting a late 50 which, for a time, offered hope of victory.
Warrington went down by nine wickets against Brooklands at Walton Lea.
Batting first they were dismissed for a disappointing 115, James Hughes top scoring with 31 and Brad Roden hitting 29.
The visitors hit off the runs for the loss of one wicket in less than 20 overs.
Warrington 2nd had a convincing win at Brooklands, batting first and reaching 203-8, A Shoalib 49 and skipper Isaac Webster 46 not out.
The home side could only muster 146, with Webster taking 3-47 and Ben McCarthy 3-24.