Give me five!

On Saturday, Audlem 2nd XI continued their 100% start to the season, gaining their fifth victory with a comprehensive 9 wicket victory at Hartford.

Invited to bat on a dubious-looking wicket, Hartford quickly raced to a confident 50 from the first 10 overs. Despite excellent opening spells from Ronnie and Reg Farnell, openers Peter Cook and Sam Dilworth laid the foundation for a challenging total and both looked set for long stays at the crease.

Qharma Matthews then tried his luck and after an opening over that tested wicket-keeper North's skills at second slip, he settled into an accurate spell which managed to contain and put the batsmen under pressure.

It was however spinner Lyndon Woodcock who made the huge breakthrough, just clipping Dilworth's leg bail with a ball that had pitched outside the off stump.

When drinks were taken at 23 overs, the score was a healthy 93-1 and Hartford looked set to post a substantial score. However, Junior 4, bowling excellent line and length, then induced sharp catches to skipper Danny Thorburn and keeper North and with the pressure now really on, Woodcock immediately took the prize wicket of Cook for 52.

Things were now about to get much worse for the home side as the 'Woodcock Show' began in earnest. He ripped through the remaining Hartford batsmen with an inspired spell to finish with an outstanding 8-36 from 14 overs, seven of them clean bowled, and only leaving 2 wickets for the excellent Junior 4, albeit only at the cost of two runs in four overs.

Having lost 8 wickets for 20, Hartford set about defending their total. Openers Dan Thorburn and Zar Ahmed initially struggled to score, mainly because they were unable to lay bat on ball as wides easily outscored the batsmen.

The Audlem openers emulated their opposite numbers and eventually managed to push the score along with regularity. After Zar had surprisingly departed LBW for 11, drinks were taken on exactly the same 93-1 as their opponents a couple of hours earlier.

This time, however, the major excitement of the late afternoon was whether Danny Thorburn could catch the remarkable number of 45 extras as he batted confidently for a chanceless 35 not out. Rich Wilson also hit an unflustered unbeaten 20 and a fifth consecutive victory was in the bag.

The twenty points gained sees Audlem 21 points clear at the top of the league but on Saturday old adversaries Mossley will provide a stern test at the Gorse Croft in a match sponsored by NEXCS It's a 1.30pm start.

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