Eccleshall v Audlem Sunday XI on 15 July

Audlem's winning run came to an end on Sunday at Eccleshall's picturesque ground in a hard fought encounter between two teams contesting the points to stay in the top half of the table.

Audlem again won the toss and as usual elected to bat in perfect conditions for a game of cricket. Skipper Chris Shenton and no.3 bat Charlie Hine were soon back in the pavilion with only one run on the scoreboard but resolute opener Andy Capper helped to 'see off' the onslaught by dropping anchor ( 4 runs off 44 deliveries) whilst his partners played with a greater degree of freedom.

A Naveed (31), Atiq Hashmi (56) and Ronnie Farnell (31) were the mainstay of the middle order but all three of the premier batsmen were dismissed with catches at key stages of the game, 142 for 6 soon became 142 for 9 and the innings looked like petering out way below par but a useful last wicket unbeaten partnership of 28 between Usman Ghani (18 not out) and veteran John Wainwright (8 not out) added some respectability to the final total of 170 for 9..

Callum Mukerji bowled superbly for the hosts to finish with remarkable figures of 8 overs 4 maidens 4 wickets for 7 runs.

Audlem knew they were 30 to 40 runs shy on a hard fast batting track with a short boundary to one side to protect and so it proved with resolute opening bat Jonathan Bramhall resisting all efforts to dislodge him until he was dismissed in the later stages of Eccleshall's reply for a fine 77. He was supported by captain Connor Beasley (29) who took the game away from Audlem and left the later order batsmen to finish the job.

Young Ewan Farnell was again star of the attack bowling 8 overs of genuine pace to unsettle all the batsmen and finish with 3 for 25 in the host's winning total of 173 for 6

Next Sunday Audlem play hosts to Stone CC at The Gorse Croft (2.30pm).

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