Sale 1st269 for 5

AT LAST the sun shone on the Church Lane ground.

Mobberley skipper Simon Burgess knew it would be an important toss to win.

Having lost the previous three his luck had to change, and it did, and so on on a damp wicket Sale were asked to bat.

Latif and Malik were the Sale openers and with the score on six off six overs, the Sale stroke makers were well shackled by accurate bowling and fielding.

In the seventh over Malik attempted to drive Whittick and John Gibbon took a reasonably simple catch.

Next at the wicket was Pegler who only managed to score nine runs.

But Latif showed his skill as a batsman. His scoring record shows 203 runs off 137 balls with 18 sixes and 15 fours.

The Mobberley fielders were better placed on Church Lane and surrounding fields as Latif plundered the Mobberley attack.

Mathew Lincoln, normally an accurate bowler, had the unenviable figures of 1 for 49 off 4 overs.

Sale finally ended Mobberleys misery in the 42nd over.

The task was a daunting one for the Mobberley batsmen but at least the generous declaration meant that Mobberley had 58 overs to pass the score of 269.

Gibbon and Locke opened but trouble struck in the sixth over when Locke was clean bowled by Abbas.

Caro and Gibbon took the game to Sale and scored 71 for the second wicket partnership before Caro was caught out for 31.

Gibbon, in typical fashion, scored 58 valuable runs but once again couldnt convert his score into a big century.

When Gibbon was out, the Mobberley plight looked doomed.

A quick-fire 17 from Nick Jones raised the spirits but time and wickets were running out for the Mobberley batsmen.

With 19 overs to go Burgess entered the fray and with batting of a mature and sensible manner set about securing an unlikely draw for his side.

With 16 overs remaining the score was 159 for 7 and the Mobberley tail was well exposed.

Trev Cooper, not unaccustomed to staring down a barrel, joined Burgess at the wicket.

With some excellent rearguard action the two steered Mobberley to 206 for 7 at close of play.

Both had managed to secure nine valuable points as Mobberley strive to maintain their place in the Cheshire County League.

Next week Mobberley have another home fixture v Warrington.