Cricket: Alderley make short work of Chester over the long weekend

6th May

Chester Boughton Hall's Filkins Lane ground has not been a happy hunting ground for Alderley Edge First XI in recent years but Sam Perry's side made it back-to-back wins in the Cheshire County Premier League on Saturday with an emphatic 81-run win over the hosts who were dismissed with over half their overs remaining in the second innings.

Winning the toss home skipper Rick Moore chose to bowl first on a pitch offering assistance to the seamers and, taking the new ball himself, Moore took the first three wickets to fall as Alderley fell to 52-3 despite a run-a-ball 28 from opener Ben Kohler-Cadmore.

As Chester's leg-spinner Jack Williams settled into a customary lengthy spell Alderley struggled for any significant partnerships, but Richard Wilkinson continued his rich early-season form with the bat hitting 49 before being run out attempting a quick single to mid-off where Lee Dixon swooped and threw down the stumps to deny Wilkinson a half-century. Alderley eked their way to 153-9 before a partnership of 24 from final pair Andrew Windle and Dan Fesmer carried the visitors up to a more competitive 177 all out from 45.3 overs giving the hosts an extra nine overs for their chase, Williams claiming 4-52 as the pick of the Chester attack.

Chester's reply started badly with Richard Wilkinson removing opener Moore with the fourth ball of the innings and with Andrew Windle accounting for Alex Money and the prize scalp of Warren Goodwin before the score had reached 25 the visitors found themselves immediately on the back foot. Wilkinson claimed a second wicket in taking 2-28 as Chester slumped to 25-4 before Lee Dixon and Atif Quereshi combined to give the hosts their most productive partnership of 42 for the fifth wicket.

The respite was brief however as Windle had the quick-scoring Quereshi caught behind for 20 thanks to a smart catch from wicketkeeper Perry before trapping Williams LBW first ball to claim 4-31 from 11 overs. From 67-6 Dixon played a lone stand in striking 27 from 56 balls before two wickets apiece for James Naylor (2-22) and Ed Foster (2-8) mopped things up for the visitors in just 28 overs to claim the 25 points having bowled out the hosts for 96.

Alderley's Second XI suffered a 5-wicket defeat at Moss Lane on Saturday with skipper Andy Kennedy's 44 the only real score of note as the hosts were dismissed for 123 after electing to bat first, Shahnawaz Khan taking 3-27 and Muhammad Usman claiming 2-22 for Timperley. Alderley's attack claimed 3 quick wickets in the second innings to slow Timperley from 81-1 to 81-4 with Alan Day and David Johnson both taking two wickets each for the hosts, but 46 from opener Richard Page and 36 not out from skipper Khan, in a strong all-round performance, carried Timperley to victory with the home side taking 4 points for their efforts.

On Sunday at Moss Lane Alderley's Third XI gained revenge with victory over Timperley by a 6-wicket margin. After winning the toss and electing to bowl first Alderley dismissed the visitors for 146 with Alfie Usher and Jeremy Dunn leading the way with 2-19 and 2-26 respectively, Timperley's opener Kiran Mogal hitting 50 not out for the visitors. In the second innings opener Usher hit the winning runs to register a half century in the company of father Jon, who hit 21 not out, as the pair guided Alderley their target in the 34th over.

Match report by Andrew Windle.

Tags:
Cricket, Alderley Edge Cricket Club
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