The Men’s 1st XI hosted Warrington at Overdale Lane with captain Craig Phelan again winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. The innings got off to a rapid start with 12 runs scored from the first three balls before the openers began to settle in and restrict the scoring. With a wicket a piece, Benedict Verma and Tom Court (1/37) restricted scoring in the powerplay as the first 10 overs finished with the score on 29/2. A Warrington partnership began to gradually grow but some restrictive bowling up to drinks saw the batting side reach 84/2 at the halfway stage. The introduction of Matt Worsdale (2/13) brought about the breakthrough in a chaotic five over period in which three wickets fell, including a run out for Worsdale. Verma (2/32) returned to pick up the sixth wicket, reducing Warrington to 126/6 after 37 overs. Another run out for Worsdale in the 40th over brought the next breakthrough. With 9 overs remaining, Josh Westwood and Matt Holland returned to the attack to finish their allocation and the innings. The pair bowled three maidens between them with Holland (1/37) picking up the eighth wicket of the innings before Westwood (1/33) took a wicket with the final ball of the innings to finish on a score of 178/9.

Scoring was slow at the start of the reply with more tight bowling restricting the flow of runs. James Norton (10) was the first Oakmere wicket to fall in the seventh over with the score on 15. Scoring remained slow but Westwood began to push on at the end of the powerplay before the next wicket fell at 42/2. Another partnership threatened to get going with Harry Poole (10) going nicely alongside Westwood but two quick wickets before drinks halted the progress with Oakmere 74/4 at the halfway stage. Westwood continued to tick over the scoreboard, keeping with the required rate and bringing up his second consecutive half century in the 36th over. Westwood (57) fell to the first ball of the 39th over with the score on 130, increasing the pressure on the home side. With new batters trying to keep up with the required rate, wickets began to fall quickly, with the remaining four being taken in the next five overs. Oakmere’s innings finished on 146 after 43.1 overs, falling 32 runs short of the target.

The Men’s 1st XI travel to Mobberley on Saturday in a bid to return to winning ways nearing the half way point in the season.

Urmston 2nd XI (165/7) vs Oakmere Men’s 2nd XI (161/9) – Urmston won by 3 wickets

The Men’s 2nd XI made what is thought to be a bit of history for the club on Saturday by heading to Urmston for what is thought to be the first ever meeting between the two clubs.
Captain Mike Dodd won the toss and elected to bat first on a hard surface. After falling to 21/4 early on, this didn’t look like the best decision, but a 50 battling fifty run partnership between Ian Eaton and Brandon Jones (11) blunted the hosts with the partnership eventually ended when Jones fell to a stunning one handed catch at backward point. Mike Dodd’s 23 from 16 balls and Jack Pickering’s unbeaten 11 added some useful lower order runs, but the highlight of the innings was Ian Eaton’s 70 which was the backbone of Oakmere posting 161/9 from their 50 overs.

Young openers Mathew Giles and Brandon Jones were disciplined early on with the ball, with Brandon reaping the rewards with two early wickets. More youth in Jimmy Sidebottom and Jack Pickering took over with Pickering’s 2/14 from 5 overs reducing Urmston to 39/4. When Sidebottom found an edge to give Dan Faulkner his third catch of the innings, Oakmere had the upper hand with Urmston 65/5. A solid sixth wicket partnership followed as Urmston patiently chipped away at the required runs, taking them to within four runs of victory before Mathew Giles (2/26) struck twice in two balls to make it 158/7. Urmston held their nerve with the number three batter carrying the hosts home to give Urmston a three wicket victory. A great effort from a very youthful Oakmere side against strong opposition.

Oakmere Men’s 3rd XI (86 all out) vs Bunbury 2nd XI (88/6) – Bunbury won by 4 wickets

At Winsford, the Men’s 3rd XI hosted Bunbury 2nd XI who won the toss and asked their hosts to bat first.

Oakmere slipped to 12/3 early on but a partnership between James Lewis and George Warburton steadied the innings before George was unfortunately bowled for 18, bringing captain Ian Bett to the crease. A further partnership began to get going but was cut short when James was adjudged LBW for 25. Once Ian Bett (14) was caught in the covers the wickets unfortunately continued to fall until Oakmere were all out for 86.

The Oakmere opening bowlers of Corey Lewis (3/1) and Henri Shovelton (1/20) put early pressure on the chase, reducing Bunbury to 24/4. Ian Bett’s introduction to the attack produced a wicket with his first ball to make it 39/5 and leave the game evenly poised. Some dogged middle order batting took the game away from Oakmere with Bett (2/10) taking the only other wicket to fall before Bunbury reached their target in the twentieth over.

Oakmere Women’s 1st XI (117/7) vs Leyland 1st XI (119/5) – Leyland won by 5 wickets

The Women’s 1st XI hosted Leyland on Sunday afternoon and were asked to bat first after losing the toss. Despite slipping to 26/4 early on in proceedings, Rachel Warrenger remained at the crease and anchored the innings. Kate Skelhorn (18) and Layla Dwyer (14) both chipped in with useful contributions, but runs were hard to come by as Oakmere finished on 117/7 with Rach still at the crease on 37.

Leyland started their chase strongly reaching 47 before Sarah Worsdale made the breakthrough courtesy of a stunning catch from Abbi Lamidey at mid off. A 50 run partnership followed to break the back of the chase but Layla Dwyer (1/11) broke the partnership. Thisumi Jayawarna (1/24) made it two new batters at the crease when she found an edge through to Maddi Lawson. Sarah Worsdale (3/30) returned to the attack to take a couple of further wickets, but there was no further joy for the hosts as Leyland reached their target in the 29th over.

Oakmere Women’s 2nd XI (110/2) vs Nantwich 2nd XI (112/2) – Nantwich won by 2 runs

The Women’s 2nd XI took on Nantwich on a sunny Monday evening at Overdale Lane, winning the toss and electing to field first.

An early wicket for Emily Faulkner (1/20) started things off well for the hosts but Nantwich recovered well with a Jane Tarpey run out being the only other wicket to fall as Nantwich posted 112/2 from their 20 overs.

The Oakmere innings was a near exact copy. Despite losing Abbi Lamidey (7) early on, Emily Faulkner and Layla Dwyer put together a partnership worth the best part of a hundred runs. Emily eventually fell in the final over for a well made 38, whilst Layla Dwyer remained unbeaten on 32. Unfortunately Oakmere couldn’t quite find the three runs required off the final ball for victory and fell to a 2 run defeat. A cracking game of nail-biting cricket.