Oakmere 1st XI (174 all out) Vs North East Cheshire 1st XI (178/6)
The 1st XI hosted NECC on Saturday and losing the toss were asked to bat first. The side got off to a good start with a watchful opening partnership between James Norton and Matt Worsdale taking the team through the first 10 overs without loss. Reaching 10 overs at 45/0 the platform was being set before Worsdale (17) fell 1 run short of the 50-run partnership in the 11th over. Norton (27) was dismissed 2 overs later and the score moved to 61/2 off 13 overs. Frank Herrington came to the crease and helped keep the scoring rate ticking over as wickets began to fall at regular intervals from the other end. Three more wickets fell before the end of the 20th over with the score reaching 81/5. The second 10 overs bringing 36/5 stunted the inning however, Matt Holland joined Herrington and a partnership began to stabilise the innings. The pair batted past the midpoint of the innings and a flurry of boundaries to Herrington propelled his score upwards before he fell in the 28th over for a well made 47. The score was 129/6 from 28 overs and moving past the 30th over regular wickets began to fall again. Holland (14) was dismissed in the 31st and the 8th came in the 35th. With the score at 151/8 off 35 overs Ethan Mackin came to the crease and looking to boost the score forward made a useful contribution of 14 before the other 2 wickets fell and the score ended at 174 all out from 42 overs.
A disappointing innings that felt slightly short of where the team could have been still had enough on the board to defend. Starting the innings strong Worsdale took a wicket in the first over. Worsdale claimed the second in the 5th over and a runout in the 10th to leave the score at 47/3 from the first powerplay. Worsdale (3/48) took a third wicket in the 11th over and the strong start continued. Ethan Mackin (1/21) joined in and claimed the 5th wicket to move the score to 62/5 off 14 overs. A partnership slowly began to grow through the middle overs making the fielding side wait 11 overs for the next wicket. Sevi Cupido (1/32) was the one to claim it in and the score was 84/6 off 25 overs. Reaching the halfway point the home side felt ahead of the game looking for a couple more wickets to breakthrough the batting side. However, the 7th wicket proved hard to come by. The batting side moved to 113/6 from 34 overs when the 2nd drinks break came and the game was in the balance. Knowing wickets were the key the home side continued the search and the rate began to increase. The next 10 overs came wicketless and the score moved to 158/6 off 44 overs. Needing 17 from the final 6 overs the visiting side moved to the target score in the next 3 overs reaching 178/6 off 46.5 overs.
A disappointing win from a strong position leaves the 1st XI 5th in the league with 5 games to play. The side will visit Upton at the weekend looking to return to winning ways and finish the season strong.

Ashton-on-Mersey 2nd XI (113 all out) Vs Oakmere 2nd XI (64 all out)
The 2nd XI visited Aston-on-Mersey and losing the toss were asked to field first. The innings got off to a strong start with 3 wickets within the first 12 overs form Corey Lewis (3/20) and a run out from Brandon Jones taking the score to 35/4 from 12 overs. Jones (1/22) entered the attack and claimed the 5th wicket breaking a threatening partnership at 77/5 of 20 overs. The regular wickets continued with Dave Purcell (3/12) claiming 3 and Harry Peters (2/7) finished off the innings taking the final 2 and the innings ended at 113 all out off 29.2 overs.
A really strong bowling innings left a very chasable total for the side to reach to claim the 20 points. One early wicket got the innings off to a shaky start, but Purcell and Jones began to add some runs moving towards the target. After Purcel (20) and Jones (14) were both dismissed the wickets began to tumble falling regularly with the momentum for the first innings leaving the team. The wickets continued and could not be stopped with the remaining 7 wickets falling quickly and the innings being ended in 22.3 overs with the score 64 all out.
A disappointing batting performance ended the match but with positives to take from a strong bowling performance. The team are left 10th in the table with 5 matches left as they host Warrington on Saturday, looking to put together a winning run to end the season.

Oakmere 3rd XI (209/5) Vs Lymm Oughtrington Park (147/9)
The 3rd XI hosted Lymm OP and winning the toss chose to bat first. Despite two wickets falling in the first 10 overs, George Warburton remained strong from the other end and kept the runs ticking over. At 36/2 off 10 overs Warburton was joined by Sam Domville and the partnership began to grow but was cut short with the dismissal of Domville (10). Warburton was then joined by James Lewis and in another partnership grew. Warburton moved past his 50 and a good steady innings providing stability to the team ended for 66 off 81 in the 30th over with the score at 121/4. With wickets in hand for the final 10 overs Lewis began to accelerate the innings striking regular boundaries. A quick innings from Hamish Warburton (17) helped boost the score forward alongside Lewis who continued after the ending of their partnership. Dan Gilbert came to the crease with 8 overs remaining. A strong partnership grew through the death overs with Lewis passing his 50 and accelerating to 81 not out off 51 balls with some good assistance from Gilbert finishing at a near run a ball 20 not out. The innings ended at 209/5 off 40 overs, a strong score and a good first half for the side.
The defence started well with 2 early wickets for Matthew Drake (2/27) and one for Dan Gilbert leaving the score at 12/3. Samorendra Singh (2/24) and Ian Bett (2/20) joined the attack and kept the wickets coming claiming 2 wickets a piece. The score moved to 123/7 off 27 overs. Dan Gilbert (3/24) returned to the attack and quickly claimed 2 more wickets to finish the innings with the score at 147/9 off 32.5.
A strong all-round performance returns the side to winning ways and leaves them 5th in the league with 5 matches remaining. They look to build on this win on Saturday when they visit Warrington 4th XI.