Humphries stars in thrilling finish for 1st XI

On Saturday the 1st XI travelled to Wilmslow Wayfarers who sat one place above them fourth in Division 2 for a game that was a ‘must-win’ in order to keep alive any hopes of promotion. It turned out to be a thriller, which Audlem won by three runs.

Skipper Chris Shenton won the toss and elected to bat. The decision soon rebounded as Andy Rothwell, Rich Wilson and Paddy Leese were all back in the pavilion with only 18 runs on the scoreboard. Having played doggedly through all the mayhem, opener Andy Capper (15) became Martyn Baldwin’s third victim to make it 24 for 4. Six runs later Qhama Matthews was bowled by Baldwin, leaving Audlem in serious trouble.

Rich Brown joined Tom Kural in the middle and they took the score to 53 before Kural was caught. All-rounder Neil Humphries and Brown then regained some momentum for Audlem as they put together a stand of 26. Humphries was bowled by Joel Unsworth, having scored 25 of those runs in only sixteen balls. Skipper Shenton and Brown (17) looked to continue the increased pace, but both were out with the score on 94. This left Stuart Elkes and Lyndon Woodcock between Wayfarers and the end of the innings. Both rose to the occasion, especially Elkes who became Unsworth’s third scalp having scored 16. The innings closed on 112 off 46 overs. Baldwin finshed with figures of 4 for 16 and Unsworth 3 for 38.

Audlem got off to a good start when Wayfarers’ opener was bowled by Elkes, making it 9 for 1. A second-wicket stand of 25 was broken when Capper took a superb diving catch to dismiss Joel Unsworth for 14, giving Elkes his second victim. On the same score Humphries claimed the first of four lbw decisions when Bobby Seal was out for 10. The Capper – Elkes combination claimed another scalp nine runs later. This was immediately followed by another lbw by Humphries to leave the home side in deep trouble on 43 for 5.

Suddenly Wayfarers seemed to wrest control of the game as Luke Unsworth and Martin Wright took the score to 74 before Unsworth was bowled for 14 by Humphries. Two balls later Humphries claimed another victim and Wayfarers were 74 for 7. Wright was still the thorn in Audlem’s side, but when, five runs later, he was trapped lbw by Humphries for a commendable 32 the pendulum swung back to the visitors. A brief rally was halted by Woodcock to make it 88 for 9. However, Wayfarers weren’t finished as their last pair, bowling star Baldwin and Andrew Bruce took the score to 109 –just a boundary required – when Humphries trapped Baldwin lbw to finish with 6 for 28. He was well supported by Elkes with 3 for 27.

Audlem gained the maximum 25 points and Wayfarers 7. As a result, both teams are tied for fourth place, albeit 42 points away from a promotion spot.

On Saturday the 1st XI welcome third-place Trinity to the Gorse Croft. The match, which is sponsored by DAS Garden Services, starts at 2.00 pm.

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