Rylands Brady Bunch Knock Out Audlem

The Match Ball and Team Sheet for our 40 Over Cup Quarter Final against Rylands was sponsored by Nakatchas Bar and Lounge.

Audlem faced Rylands for the second time in two days on Sunday, as the side situated at Bunsley Bank looked to make it a weekend double over their counterparts from Warrington.

Stanway was forced into four changes from the side that picked up their fourth consecutive league victory on Saturday. Out went: Toraman, McIlveen, Banfield and Madden. In came: Hadzik, Woodcock, Heaps and Reg Farnell, joining older brother Ronnie in the XI.

Rylands were largely unchanged, apart from Glass and Threadgold replacing the outgoing Thomas and Peters. Could the consistency that Audlem had begun to show over the past few weeks be maintained, despite a raft of changes to the side?

Following the same pattern as Saturday, the home skipper won the toss and elected to bat first on a used track. On Thursday, Audlem had stuttered and stumbled their way clumsily to 123 on a track, where the slower bowlers were in control, before Woore easily put Audlem's quicker bowlers to the sword, knocking the total off with ease.

Andy Rothwell opened up with skipper Stu Stanway this time. Rothwell's role as opener, is to get Audlem off to a flyer, a sprint start. He is seen as the man who ignites the early innings dynamite, exposing the weaknesses and faults in the opposition, before they are gradually pried apart by Audlem's obdurate middle order.

Naturally, on Sunday there was no ignition, no lighter, not even any matches, as he patted back a maiden over before edging to the keeper Platt for 4 runs, Sujith once again the man with the early breakthrough.

Wilson walked to the crease this time, determined to atone for Saturday's failure, hitting Sujith and Brown for a succession of early boundaries. Wilson started in fourth gear from the off, as Stanway struggled to get going. The two continued to capitalise on any lose bowling from the seamers, bringing up the half century in the 12th over.

The introduction of Brady and Glass, though, changed the dynamic of the innings, and with pace off the ball, runs instantly seemed somewhat harder to come by. Although Audlem's two most recognisable batsmen were still ticking along nicely, the rate had steadied itself as Audlem moved to 89 in the 19th Over, before Wilson skied one up to deep cover, giving Brady his first strike of the afternoon, as Wilson departed two runs short of a half-century. He deserved a fifty.

The third wicket partnership continued in the same vein, with Matthews and Stanway struggling to get out of second gear. Much of the slow scoring, though, can be explained by the stranglehold that Brady and Glass kept Audlem batsmen under, as they failed to pierce the gaps in the Rylands outfield.

In his later years, Carl Froch has become famous for leaving something in the tank for a late assault on his rivals to turn around some of the most desperate situations known in boxing. At 128-2 with 13 overs left, Audlem needed something along those lines, as anything below 200, would have been deemed to be below-par.

A double strike in 28th over almost instantaneously shattered Audlem's hopes of 200 with Stanway and Matthews both departing to the impressive Matt Brady, who bowled out with figures of 8 overs, 3-25. This was a solid return by Brady, who accounted for the crucial wickets of Wilson, Stanway and Matthews.

The departing figures of Stanway and Matthews didn't make things any easier for the home side as Heaps, Ronnie Farnell and Humphries all struggled with the lack of pace from the Audlem deck.

Only a few lusty blows from Chris Hadzik and a hard-worked 25 from Heaps were enough to get Audlem up to 178-8 from their 40 Overs, as Richard Buck nipped in with three wickets at the end of the innings.

Following, the Rylands lead, Stu Stanway straight away decided to open the bowling with Neil Humphries, an attacking option. Buck and Jenkins led the way on Sunday for the away side as Humphries' opening partner, Swift leaked early boundaries. Rylands were out of the blocks quickly.

The wicket of Jenkins was insufficient to put a dam up against the flow of runs, with Alan Brady joining Buck at the wicket. Brady was quickly into his stride, pouncing sharply on anything slightly full and brutally punishing anything short. Audlem knew how crucial his wicket was to the chase, following an unbeaten 100 from the left hander last year, in the nerve-jangling league fixture at Rylands.

The combination of Buck and Brady moved Rylands onto 67 almost seamlessly. The wicket of Buck to Heaps though, did little to stop the avalanche coming Audlem's way, as Threadgold and Brady continued to tuck into the bowling on display.

A pair of sixes off the returning Lyndon Woodcock to Audlem's 1st XI, pretty much summed up the way the game was going. Clearly, Rylands were unsatisfied with the tea Wilson had to offer.

Ryland's scored 250 in last year's league fixture at the Gorse Croft, plundering the Audlem bowlers to all corners of the outfield, so it was little surprise that the side continued to do the same on another flat deck in South Cheshire.

Reggie Farnell's first competitive 1st XI wicket was enough to give Audlem brief hope of a comeback, but Graeme Rowlands 41* including three sixes, saw the visitors home comfortably with 13 overs to spares, as Audlem lost by 7 wickets. Alan Brady continued his great form against Audlem, finishing 72* to take his side into the semi-finals of the Cup.

Next Saturday, Audlem travel to Norbury, hoping to continue their winning streak in the league.

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