Winsford 1st163-6

Davenham 162 all out

WINSFORD took a gamble in the derby at Knights Grange on Saturday and asked Davenham to bat on what seemed to be a good batting track.

The gamble seemed to have paid off when Ashley was dismissed in the first over bowled by Beswick, Buckley and Kauris also fell before reaching double figures and only a resilient 35 by Murray gave Davenham's top order any respect as they were 71 for 4 off 26 overs.

This brought young, Mark Greaves to the crease and with a cracking array of shots the 15-year-old soon reached 48 before he became another Andy Beswick victim.

Harrison was the only other Davenham batsmen to reach double figures as Winsford's bowling attack bowled tightly mainly due to an excellent 21 over spell by Mark Dean who ended up taking 5-77. Andy Beswick finished with 4-44. The Davenham innings finished on 162 off 44 overs.

With the extra over, Winsford felt reasonably confident of reaching Davenham's total. Crellin fell to Wright for 13 in the seventh over.

This left Winsford on 21 for 1. This brought captain Andy Johnson and vice-captain Paul Yearsley to the crease and after a slow start to their partnership they soon got on top of the Davenham attack with a mixture of attacking and controlled shots.

When skipper Johnson went in the 28th over for 47 Winsford were on top and looked in total control of the game. When Barraclough, Dean and Potts struggled to score against some tight bowling, the game seemed to swing back into Davenham's favour.

When Yearsley fell for an excellent 65 Winsford were 144-6 off 41 overs and were destined for a tight finish but Simon Torlop stook to his task and battled his way through to score the winning runs with two balls to spare. An excellent finish to an excellent derby game.

Davenham 2nd 131 all out

Winsford 2nd 132-8

WINSFORD seconds kept their championship prospects alive with their third win on the trot, a two wicket victory over local rivals Davenham.

Winsford won the toss and skipper John Millington had no hesitation in asking the home side to bat on a good but green wicket.

Davenham got off to a good start with experienced openers John Sumner and Rob Hetherington playing some useful strokes until Hetherington called for a quick single, resulting in a brilliant run out from a direct Whitney throw. He went for 21 with the score on 40.

Sumner soon followed when skying a ball from Crofts to be superbly caught by youngster Jonathan Millington at square leg for 19.

This brought about a dramatic collapse from Davenham and they finished at 131 all out.

For Winsford, Dave Johnson bowled superbly with a spell of 20 overs taking 4-64, ably supported by spinners Crofts 3-24, and Millington Jnr 2-18.

The Winsford innings started badly with both openers out with only 14 on the board. Only Whitney, making 18 before adjudged lbw, looked capable of staying at the crease, and at 41-5 Winsford were staring defeat full in the face.

But what was to happen in the next hour was to amaze all playing and watching. James Bland, promoted in the batting order and in his first knock of the season for the seconds, started the fight back and with some excellent strokes and quick singles to put Winsford right back in the game, supported by Sargeant, Evers and Smith, managing to pass the Davenham score with only three balls to play.

Bland made a magnificent 56, this being his maiden half century, allowing Winsford to take 22 points from the match and keep their championship hopes alive.

Next Saturday sees the start of two weeks at home when they entertain Christleton.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.