Wayfarers crush 1st XI

The 1st XI fell to a crushing 8 wicket defeat at the hands of promotion-chasing Wilmslow Wayfarers on Saturday. After winning the toss on a suspicious looking deck, Paddy Leese chose to bat first under instructions from the soon-to-arrive skipper Chris Shenton.

Notoriously poor at chasing, almost all Audlem’s success this season has come batting first but they made the worst possible start, losing two wickets without scoring with both openers Andy Rothwell and Qhama Matthews bowled for ducks.

Rich Wilson, who scored a hundred last week, joined forces with Leese and together they set about repairing the damage. However, tricky conditions coupled with some accurate bowling meant the pair spent the first 25 overs trickling along at less than a run a ball.

Wilson was eventually bowled for 4 trying to up the tempo and then Leese ran out Danny Thorburn with a risky single. The keeper-batsmen fell for 11 caught at mid-off and Tom Kural soon followed for 3 as Wayfarers turned the screw.

The visitors accelerated slightly following aggressive strokes from Kemal Toraman, Shenton and then Neil Humphries but a total of 67 all out was never going to be enough. Anthony Mape returned 3-36 and Martyn Baldwin 3-26 as they bowled the lion’s share of the overs.

Wayfarers were in a hurry and knocked the runs off inside 13 overs on a pitch which had transformed from the one Audlem had used earlier in the day. Joel Unsworth in particular was unforgiving of anything full or short and raced to 39 before he was bowled by Swift who returned 2 for 42.

Wayfarers gained 25 points to enhance their promotion prospects and Audlem just 1.  Despite the poor result, the 1st XI remains in fifth place in Division 2.  On Saturday they entertain next-to-bottom Hartford, hoping to get back to winning ways.  The match starts at 1.00 pm.

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