The Men’s 1st XI made the long journey to Hawk Green on Saturday where the hosts won the toss and elected to bat first. The home side got off to a steady start with a couple of boundaries flying to the short boundaries seeing the score tick along. Matt Howard (1/32) made the first breakthrough in the eighth over to make it 31/1. The next ten overs saw runs begin to flow as the batting partnership passed 50, reaching 95/1 at the end of the 18th over. Boundaries continued to come, but in the run up to drinks a few maiden overs applied some pressure. In the second over after the break, Ethan Mackin (1/71) broke the partnership to make it 140/2. The wicket brought some control as scoring tightened with only 20 runs coming from the next six overs. The set batter looked to accelerate through the later stages of the innings, increasing aggression and reaping the rewards as the home side reached 237/2 with ten overs still remaining. Matt Holland and Benedict Verma returned to the attack to finish the innings with Holland removing the Hawk green centurion in the 41st over. A fruitful three over period for Oakmere followed with Holland taking three further wickets and Verma claiming one to take the score to 275/7 off 47 overs. With batters having licence to play aggressive shots, runs continued to flow but the wickets fell just as quickly with Holland striking with his final two balls to finish with 6/42 from his ten overs. Verma (2/60) claimed the final Hawk green wicket with the final ball of the innings as Hawk Green posted 298.

A long chase was ahead of Oakmere , but good batting conditions and small boundaries made it feel a chaseable score. An early wicket in the second over brought Josh Westwood to the crease to join James Norton and the pair quickly got into their stride. Reaching 61/1 at the end of the opening ten overs, the platform was being built nicely, but Westwood (35) fell soon after and another wicket in the 15th over saw Oakmere 71/3. Zach Howdle joined Norton and quickly began to build a partnership. Howdle was scoring at a good rate but his dismissal for 24 was followed by the fifth wicket two balls later. Craig Phelan joined Norton with the pair sticking around to reach drinks at 116/5. After the break, the pair upped the ante and took the attack to the Hawk Green bowlers, striking regular boundaries. Norton brought up his 50 in the 34th over but Phelan was caught in the 35th, exiting for a well made 36 with the score now 178/6. Norton was undeterred and took the next over for 16, but his superb innings worth 79 came to an end soon after. Mackin and Verma came together with 90 runs still required. In an exciting four over period, the pair added 36 with Mackin (15) striking a maximum but being bowled two balls later. Verma continued, scoring 11 from the next over and providing some hope with 44 required from the last 7 overs. Verma was unfortunately dismissed for a well made 25, putting the lower order fightback to an end with the score on 258, 40 runs shy of the Hawk Green total with the best part of six overs still remaining.

After a high scoring, hard fought game, the Men’s 1st XI find themselves fourth in the league, still with a chance of finishing in the top two and gaining promotion. A strong finish to the season is required, with a home game against Winnington Park providing the first opportunity to bounce back to winning ways.

Oakmere Men’s 2nd XI (175/6) vs Stockport 2nd XI (172 all out) – Oakmere won by 4 wickets

The Men’s 2nd XI hosted Stockport at Overdale Lane on Saturday with the visitors winning the toss and electing to bat first. Youngsters Brandon Jones and Will Hardie opened up well with the ball, creating early pressure but without reward. Jones found an edge in the third over, which produced a superb one handed diving catch to his left from captain Mike Dodd at second slip which left the batter, spectators and his own teammates stunned. The pair combined the very next ball with Jones again finding an edge and Dodd taking a much more regulation catch to reduce Stockport to 12/2. It was Hardie’s turn to take the next wicket, finding a faint edge down the leg side which was well taken by keeper Dan Faulkner to give Will his maiden 2nd XI wicket. Oakmere kept up the pressure with the ball and in the field with Jack Paget and Jimmy Sidebottom entering the attack at the end of the first ten overs. Sidebottom struck with his fourth delivery with an edge again being snaffled by Dodd to reduce Stockport to 38/4. Sidebottom made it 54/5 as the pair bowled in tandem excellently with Paget only conceding ten runs in his five over spell and being thoroughly unlucky not to get a wicket. Jones (3/31 from 12 overs) returned to the attack, trapping a batter LBW before Dodd continued his excellent day in the field with a run out which saw Stockport in trouble on 69/7. The visitors dug in nicely, making Oakmere fight hard in the middle overs. The returning Paget (1/28 from 10 overs) deservedly got the breakthrough, picking up his maiden 2nd XI wicket with an edge through to Faulkner. Stockport’s number 10 brought the attack to Oakmere’s bowlers, hitting a couple of large maximums before Sidebottom (3/29 from 10 overs) deceived him with an excellently flighted delivery to beat the bat. The final pair stuck around for the visitors before Hardie (2/24) returned to the attack to close out the innings with Paget taking the catch in the covers.

Openers Dan Faulkner and George Warburton made a patient start with the bat. Youngster George (8) looked in good touch, striking a couple of boundaries before a ball kept low and beat his defences. He was replaced by another youngster in Jack Pickering, who also played nicely, scoring a couple of boundaries before being run out for 13 as Oakmere found themselves 37/2. Stockport’s bowling attack bowled with relentless accuracy, meaning runs were hard to come by. Faulkner’s patient innings came to an end for 27 in the 24th over with the score on 75. 75/3 became 101/5 as Stockport continued to apply pressure, but Paul Guilford remained at the crease, battling away. As the visitors’ bowlers tired Guilford and Brandon Jones began to capitalise on rare loose deliveries, building a nice partnership which looked to be seeing Oakmere home before Guilford (59) became the second Oakmere batter to be run out. Still requiring 40 runs from the final nine and a half overs, Dodd joined Jones and the pair linked up well again. They each scored 11 runs off the 43rd over to make the target much more comfortable and indeed carried the Oakmere side home with the best part of six overs to spare after sharing a partnership worth 42 runs in 23 balls. Jones finished on 29 from 32 deliveries and Dodd 22 from 12 deliveries to give the Men’s 2nd XI an important 4 wicket victory.

Macclesfield 5th XI (/98 all out) vs Oakmere Men’s 3rd XI (99/6) – Oakmere won by 4 wickets

The Men’s 3rd XI travelled to Kerridge Cricket Club to take on Macclesfield 5th XI and elected to bowl first after winning the toss. Henri Shovelton got Oakmere off to a great start with a tight opening spell that saw him clean bowl batters number two and three before also claiming the number one courtesy of an Adrian Watts catch in an opening spell of 3/15 which set the tone through persistent line and length that created immediate pressure. At the other end Percy Bratherton bowled with patience and economy, striking in the eighth over after building pressure with a series of dot balls. Percy’s opening spell finished with excellent figures of 1/9. Change bowlers Harry Peters and Pete Giles maintained control in the middle overs. Giles (2/19) struck twice in quick succession as Macclesfield were looking to rebuild, the second courtesy of a catch from son Cameron to make it 36/6. Harry (1/17) made it 52/7 with an LBW before the home side consolidated. Cameron Giles (1/17) made the breakthrough before the finishing touches to the innings were applied by Dan Gilbert, who struck twice in fifteen deliveries to finish with 2/17 and cap off an excellent team effort with the ball as Macclesfield were dismissed for 98.

In the chase Oakmere showed composure despite constant pressure from the Macclesfield attack. After falling to 13/2, Pete Giles’ well paced 31 from 52 deliveries settled things down for the visitors. Dan Gilbert added 16 and Harry Peters 8 but at 81/6 there were some nerves. These were quickly allayed by a calm unbeaten 7 from Henri Shovelton, supported at the other end by Martin Bratherton (6*) as Oakmere secured the victory in the 29th over of the chase.

A clinical display from the Men’s 3rd XI underpinned by a cohesive and disciplined bowling performance which was backed up by tidy fielding. Contributions came throughout the side with the squad continuing to build nicely for the future.

Chester Boughton Hall 1st XI (141/7) vs Oakmere Women’s 1st XI (140/8) – Chester Boughton Hall won by 3 wickets

Sunday saw the Women’s 1st XI travel to Chester Boughton Hall where Oakmere lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Kerry Hartnett and Thisumi Jayawarna got Oakmere off to a great start with the bat, reaching 93 without loss in the 22nd over before both openers fell in the space of four balls, Kerry having made 29 and youngster Thisumi scoring her maiden half century for the club as she scored an excellent 53 from 72 deliveries. Chester fought back well, taking regular wickets throughout the remainder of the innings. Sarah Worsdale (17) and Emily Renshaw (14) both provided resistance as Oakmere finished their innings on 140/8.

Sarah (1/26) provided an early breakthrough in the Chester innings, making it 11/1 at the start of the fifth over. Chester put together a second wicket partnership worth in excess of fifty runs before Maddi Lawson broke the partnership, finding an edge through to Amy Jones. Maddi (2/32) followed this up in her next over to make it 65/3 before an excellent spell of tight bowling from Kerry Hartnett (1/10 from 8 overs including four maidens) bore fruit to make it 73/4. Annie Rashid (3/24) reduced Chester to 116/7 but the hosts’ eighth wicket partnership held their nerve to carry their side home in the 37th over.

Oakmere Midweek XI (86/4) vs Kingsley Knights (85 all out) – Oakmere won by 6 wickets

Oakmere’s Midweek XI hosted a star-studded Kingsley Knights side on Wednesday evening at Overdale Lane with the visitors batting first. It was a great start for Oakmere as Kingsley were reduced to 1/2 after seven deliveries courtesy of Brandon Jones and Ethan Mackin who struck with his first delivery. The pair exchanged wickets in opening spells of 2/21 for Jones and 3/19 for Mackin which put Kingsley in trouble at 40/5. A run out made it 46/6 before Josh Westwood bowled a wicket maiden to take the score to 46/7. It was spin all the way to close out the innings as excellent spells from Jasper Eaton (1/11 from 3 overs) and Jimmy Sidebottom (2/13 from 4 overs) saw Kingsley all out for 85 at the end of the sixteenth over.

Despite losing an early wicket, Harry Poole and Ian Eaton set about things calmly for Oakmere in the chase. Poole made a good 22 from 26 deliveries to put Oakmere ahead of the rate, whilst Eaton remained solid at the other end, adding 29 before both were dismissed to leave the home side 64/3. Any nerves were settled with a maximum each for Josh Westwood (12*) and Zach Howdle (12) before Brandon Jones’ 6 runs from two deliveries secured the victory for Oakmere.

The result means that the Midweek XI head into their final two fixtures of the season next week in the knowledge that one victory will see them claim the Chester and District Midweek T20 League title.