A sparkling unbeaten hundred from Alderley Edge First XI captain Sam Perry saw them ease past local rivals Bowdon at Moss Lane on Saturday claiming an emphatic nine-wicket victory in the Cheshire County Premier League.
Choosing to bat first the visitors made steady progress to reach 108-2 on a good batting surface before a burst of 3 quick wickets for Chris Sanders (3-25 off 11 overs) helped to change Alderley's fortunes with the ball as Bowdon slipped to 122-6, Ross Zelem hitting 28 and John Sanders 25 from the middle order.
A battling 40 from number 7 Thomas Graham helped to push Bowdon's total upward but with wickets shared between Dan Fesmer (2-50), Sam Perry (2-29) and Saami Welsh (1-35) Alderley closed out the first innings well to dismiss Bowdon in the final over with the total on 183.
In reply Alderley looked comfortable from the off, reaching 45 before the loss of Pat Ashling against the run of play for 21. But there was to be no further damage inflicted as opener Perry flayed the Bowdon attack in compiling an unbeaten 112, sharing in a mammoth 142-run stand with Subhaan Mahmood, who hit 48 not out from number 3, to complete a resounding win with over 15 overs to spare.
Perry's recent good form continued the following day at Moss Lane as the Alderley man hit a match-winning 147 to help Cheshire through to the Minor Counties 50-over Knock-out Cup Final at the expense of current champions Berkshire, the final to be played at the picturesque Wormsley cricket ground at the end of August.
Alderley's Second XI had an afternoon to forget against Didsbury's 2A side at Mere as the hosts inflicted a 158-run defeat. Alderley started brightly with the ball after winning the toss and asking Didsbury to bat first, opening pair Dil Yahathugoda and Ashray Bhamidipati taking two wickets apiece in the early stages to reduce the hosts to 54-4. Didsbury's middle order responded to the challenge with Sean Reilly (34) and Rob Goldstone (30) both providing solid contributions to lead the recovery before falling to David Johnson.
Number 6 Reuben Arnold hit a crucial 47 and along with skipper Muhammad Rehmani, who struck 35, Didsbury pushed their total towards the 200-mark. Bhamdipati returned to claim both to finish with 4-66 and Johnson claimed the final wicket to fall in taking his third to finish with 3-46 as Didsbury closed on 202-9 from their fifty overs.
Alderley's second innings reply will be one they will want to forget quickly as a spell of 7-21 from opener Jack Harland swept the visitors away before they could get a foothold in the contest. Losing their first 5 wickets for just 7 runs only number 6 Joe Bailey-Heald (11) and number 7 Dil Yahathugoda (15) made it into double figures as the visitors were dismissed for 44 taking 4 points from the contest to Didsbury's 20.
