The Men’s 1st XI hosted Tattenhall with Matt Holland winning the toss and electing to bat first. The start to the inning was steady for Oakmere with the two openers battling through the powerplay on what appeared to be a tricky surface. The first wicket came at the end of the eighth over with the side 28/1 when Josh Westwood joined Matt Worsdale at the crease. The pair continued the good start until Worsdale (13) fell in the eleventh over leaving the score at 43/2. Nick Verma joined Westwood and the pair batted through five further watchful overs before Westwood (19) was dismissed. Zach Howdle joined Verma and the pair stayed resolute through some tight bowling, surviving to the half way point when the score had reached 73/3. The pair continued after the break, building a solid partnership before an unfortunate run out lead to rge dismissal of Howdle (19). At 92/4 off 34 overs, wickets continued to fall, stemming the flow of runs. Wickets in the 37th, 38th and 39th overs, with the latter being Verma for a battling 17, the score moved to 98/7. Benedict Verma and Jack Mackin came together to form a 27 run partnership, helping the team into three figures. At 125/7, Mackin (14) and Verma (10) fell to consecutive balls. The final pair added 7 more before the final wicket fell with the score on 132.

With a low total to defend, Oakmere knew they would need to bowl well and take any chances to gain the 20 points. Tattenhall came out swinging hard, getting the scoreboard ticking from ball one. An early bowling change brought Matt Holland into the attack and he claimed the first wicket, with the batting side 52/1 after just six overs. Holland continued to bowl threateningly, taking two further wickets to see the powerplay finish on 76/3. The scoring slowed somewhat with a rebuild from the 4th wicket partnership but a breakthrough did not come until Westwood (1/25) was reintroduced to the attack in the 21st over. Holland bowled a double wicket maiden in the 24th over, to see him with superb figures of 5/11 from 9 overs. At 123/6, Oakmere had created some pressure, but Tattenhall reached their target two overs later to claim the 20 points.

After a difficult game that saw a good fight back from the bowlers, the Men’s 1st XI remain in 3rd place in the league with three games remaining. With the run in getting tighter, the team travel to Warrington tomorrow looking for a strong end to the season in a fight for promotion.

Haslington 2nd XI (147 all out) vs Oakmere Men’s 2nd XI (212 all out) – Oakmere won by 65 runs

The Men’s 2nd XI travelled to Haslington, winning the toss and electing to bat first. Openers Dave Purcell and Dan Faulkner rode their luck at times, but got Oakmere off to a great start reaching 50 without loss at the end of the first ten overs. This continued until almost the end of the next ten overs but Purcell was bowled by an excellent delivery for a superb 61 from 55 deliveries which included eleven boundaries and a maximum. Faulkner followed five overs later (33) with Oakmere suffering a mini collapse as 95/0 became 122/5. Paul Guilford added 19 runs with Mathew Giles before he was trapped LBW for 14 after missing a full delivery. Mike Dodd added a quickfire 15 with Giles, the pair putting on 28 further runs before he edged behind to make it 169/7. Hamish Warburton joined Giles and also added 9 runs with some crucial lower order partnerships edging Oakmere towards the 200 mark. At 192/9, the 200 mark looked like it might not be reached, but a maximum from Giles brought it up in style. Youngster Henri Shovelton (6) shared in a last wicket partnership that added 20 runs before he was caught behind, leaving Giles unbeaten on a crucial 48 from 45 deliveries.

Haslington’s opening pair got off to an equally good start before Henri Shovelton (1/30) got the breakthrough with the final ball of his first spell, making it 41/1. Brandon Jones’ introduction to the attack brought two wickets with it as Dodd and Guilford held on to good catches to make it 60/3. Sean McDonnell (1/25) made it 69/4 before Haslington’s youngsters rebuilt well in the middle of the innings. They took the home side’s score into three figures with a patient display, whilst keeping up with the required run rate. The breakthrough came in unfortunate style for the hosts with Giles getting a hand to a ball that was driven back at him to see the non-striker run out and make it 113/5. Oakmere took a grip of the game from this point, with Giles (1/38) finding an edge behind to Faulkner before Dave Purcell also found one which was expertly taken by Faulkner stood up to the stumps. Purcell (3/15 from 9 overs) took two further wickets in a spell which slowed the scoring and halted any momentum that Haslington had made. Jones (3/37) wrapped up the victory for Oakmere, bowling the batter with the score on 147 to give Oakmere a vital 20 points.

Oakmere Men’s 3rd XI (134/7) vs Lindow 4th XI (135/4) – Lindow won by 6 wickets

The Men’s 3rd XI hosted Lindow 4th XI at Winsford and were asked to bat first after the visitors had won the toss. Adrian Watts and Leah Holland got Oakmere off to a solid start before Watts (8) was caught in tenth over. Sam Domville (4) joined Holland and the pair battled hard through some testing bowling before Domville was caught in the eighteenth over with the score now 33/2. Guy Groves hit a counterattacking 17 from 23 deliveries but three wickets fell with the score on 64, including Holland for 20, as Oakmere found themselves in trouble. Ian Bett and Jimmy Sidebottom put a nice partnership together, before Sidebottom (19) was caught with the score on the brink of three figures. Cameron Giles (7) and Pete Giles (8*) both supported captain Ian Bett (28*) well as Oakmere finished their innings on 134/7.

Lindow got off to a very good start in their chase, passing fifty without loss. Guy Groves got the breakthrough in the 19th over with the score on 59 and followed this up with a wicket maiden to have both openers removed and make the score 79/2. A third for Groves (3/14 from 7 overs) made it 85/3, before Cameron Giles’ leg spin (1/14) picked up the fourth wicket. Unfortunately, Oakmere weren’t possible to force any further wickets and Lindow reached their target in the 30th over of the chase.

Lindow 1st XI (142/3) vs Oakmere Women’s 1st XI (140/8) – Lindow won by 7 wickets

The Women’s 1st XI played their penultimate match of the season on Sunday, taking on high flying Lindow at Alderley Edge. Lindow won the toss and asked Oakmere to bat first. Despite the early loss of Thisumi Jayawarna (5), Phoebe Cottam and Nat Lyons batted well together sharing a partnership worth 49 runs before Cottam was trapped in front for a patient 30. Lyons followed in the same fashion soon after for 27 from 36 deliveries as 68/1 became 74/4. Amy Jones and Emily Renshaw (8) took the score to the brink of three figures before the latter was bowled. Annie Rashid (13) joined Jones and shared a 34 run partnership before she was also bowled to take the score to 133/6. Jones continued undeterred, finishing unbeaten on 37 as Oakmere finished their 40 overs on 140/8.

Sarah Worsdale (1/20) made an early breakthrough for Oakmere and Nat Lyons (1/23) followed this soon after to reduce Lindow to 37/2. A solid partnership followed which was eventually broken by Maddi Lawson (1/18) with the Lindow score on 84. Oakmere were unable to break the fourth wicket partnership as Lindow raced to their target in 24 overs.

Congratulations go to Lindow who wrapped up the league title with a victory the following day.

Oakmere Women’s 2nd XI (101/5) vs Alvanley 1st XI (114/6) – Alvanley won by 13 runs

After a long break, the Women’s 2nd XI were finally back in action on Bank Holiday Monday, hosting Alvanley in the semi final of the Development Knockout Cup.

The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first, getting off to a quick start before Maddi Lawson (1/24) made the breakthrough with the final ball of the fifth over. Jane Tarpey’s introduction to the attack brought two wickets in a spell of 2/7 from three overs which slowed Alvanley’s momentum. Emily Faulkner (1/8) and an Annie Smith run out made it 74/5 to put the pressure on the visitors, but they battled hard, reaching three figures before Oakmere took their final wicket through Rachel Tidd (1/3), Alvanley finishing their innings on 114/6.

Oakmere had a tough start to their chase, finding themselves 32/4 after nine overs and facing an uphill task. Maddi Lawson retired having reached the retirement score of 30 from just 34 deliveries, with Rachel Tidd’s 17 from as many deliveries giving the home side a chance. Unfortunately the side fell 13 runs short of their target in a topsy turvy contest.

Plenty of great experience for the young Women’s 2nd XI side this year in a higher division and an excellent run to the semi-finals of the cup will stand the players in good stead for the future.