HMV record a win over 2nd XI by 7 wickets

The 2nd XI travelled to Heaton Mersey Village for the Division 4 fixture, but came away having been beaten by seven wickets.

Stand-in skipper Zar Ahmed won the toss on a cloudy, cold June afternoon and elected to bat first. HMV's opening pace bowlers, Mike Clarke and Ahmed Navid bowled unchanged throughout the innings and produced superb spells to dismiss Audlem for a challenging but gettable 160 off 47.2 overs.

The pitch was very much suited for bowlers and the Audlem batsmen struggled to gather momentum. As it was, they battled hard and managed to post a competitive total. The main innings for Audlem was an excellent 38 from Toby Banfield. Other contributors were Zar Ahmed 21, Dave Parry 17, Phil Backes 16 and Jacob Rowe with 14. For the home team, Navid was the star performer with 6-72 whilst his partner Clarke took 3-69.

HMV started their innings began at a snail pace. Roy Wild and Dave Parry gave nothing away and runs were virtually non-existent. After 24 overs, the score was 50-1. It was at this point that things went wrong for Audlem when skipper Ahmed made bowling changes to try and take wickets. The decision backfired. Rowe and Danny Thorburn bowled well, however their extra pace was also suitable for the batsmen. Ray Samuels took twenty runs off an over as the momentum changed. Suddenly, the home side were on the attack.

Another bowling change led to a further twenty runs off an over as the run rate changed from eight an over to four. It was game over and HMV romped home with four overs to spare. The star batsmen for the home team were Samuels with 55 and Kingsley Parchment with a brutal 45 not out.

HMV gained 25 points and Audlem 10. The defeat means that Audlem slip one place to sixth in the table.

Next Saturday the 2nd XI entertain tenth-place Mossley at the Gorse Croft. The match starts at 2.00 pm.

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