Audlem v Newcastle

On a hot day at Little Stoke Audlem won the toss and elected to bowl first. Newcastle dug in well on a pitch that offered plenty of pace and bounce for the seamers and must have felt that 180-6 off their 40 overs was certainly defendable. The feeling in the Audlem camp at the half way stage was that this could prove to be a tough chase given the green pitch and 40 overs spent in the field. Audlem we're hoping to restrict the hosts to under 150 having opted to bowl first but an unusually poor fielding performance meant they were chasing a larger total.

Audlem got off to the perfect start with the ball and Shenton's decision at the toss looked a good one when Swift dismissed Newcastle's opening batter Sapsford for 2. Captain Abel and the experienced Leighton then combined well, putting on close to 50 for the 2nd wicket before Nair bowled Leighton. Slaymaker fell quickly after when he managed to edge behind a short and wide ball from Bytker to wicketkeeper Parkinson. At 59-3 Audlem must have been feeling confident in rolling over the hosts but to Newcastle's credit they dug in well, building crucial partnerships to nudge them close to the 200 mark. Audlem managed to take wickets at regular intervals and some child death bowling meant that Newcastle fell short of the 200 mark they look set for at 109-3. All rounder Todd Talbot batted beautifully to finish 55 not out. Swift finished with 2 wickets, while Jayan, Butler, and Parkinson took one each.

In reply, Audlem's opening pair of wilson and Shenton started cautiously against the new ball. They worked hard on a tricky surface adding 67 for the first wicket before Wilson was caught on the boundary for a more than useful 27. Rothwell joined Shenton at the crease but fell the very next ball. He was unfortunate to find first slip with a leading edge from a full toss. In times gone by this would have caused a collapse but this group of players certainly know how to dig deep and win a game. They were determined to make it 15 league wins from their last 16 games. Dan Butler strode to the crease to join Shenton. The pair batted well, running the singles and hitting loose balls to the boundary. They had moved the scoreboard into 110 before Shenton was caught and bowled for an impressive 54 that included 6 fours and 2 sixes. Kemal Toraman joined Butler at the crease and again they built a decent partnership, both looking incredibly comfortable. Toraman was bowled for 12 which brought Parkinson to the crease. Parkinson and Butler brought Audlem to the brink of victory before Parkinson played down the wrong line and was bowled by Slaymaker. The incoming batsman, Shaik remained unbeaten on 10 runs to guide Audlem home with just over 6 overs to spare. Dan Butler played a crucial innings of 48 not out, including 8 fours to anchor the chase.

Newcastle's bowlers tried hard, but they couldn't defend the total. They will be disappointed to lose the game despite putting up a decent score on the board.

The win keeps Audlem at the top of the league table, while Newcastle remains in the middle of the pack. Audlem will be looking to continue their winning streak when they face Sandbach at home next Saturday in a 1 pm start.