1s Make it Three From Three with Dominant Display

The month of May began with a cooler temperature as Heaton Mersey welcomed Lymm Oughtrington to Oakley Villas. Searching for their third consecutive win of the season, Marshall won the toss and elected to bowl.

Damien Stringer shared the new ball with Luke as the pair made an instant impact in batting friendly conditions. Stringer’s precise lines supplemented Luke’s speed and accuracy. Some indifferent stroke-play from the away-side and some excellent catches from Waqar, Shirly and Moose left the away side struggling on 51-5.

Moose and Waqs replaced Luke and the excellent Stringer (10-2-30-4). Chances continued to present themselves to the home-side but drops from Tom, Barno and Josh prevented Moose from attaining the figures he deserved. The visitors fought back, however, with a destructive 47 from Lymm captain Travis Scholes. Helpful contributions from the lower order meant that Lymm finished on 167 all out.

Luke and Josh opened for Mersey as their opening partnership continued to blossom. Their first fifty partnership of the season ended when Josh was caught between two shots; caught and bowled for 22. Luke was joined by Ayaz as the two continued to chisel away at the target before the captain was caught behind for 43 on the first ball after drinks. Next in, the returning Dom Gandy showed no signs of rust, batting elegantly with Ayaz to form a 65-run partnership, guiding the home-side towards, what appeared to be, a comfortable victory.

149-2 soon turned into 157-5 as Ayaz, Dom and Damo all returned to the pavilion (metaphorically speaking). Fordy seemed determined to take the game to the last over, turning down easy singles and swiping hideously outside off-stump. Having turned down a single to midwicket which would have won the game, Fordy edged the next ball to slip and Briggs departed soon after walking past a full ball. 149-2 soon read 167-7 but ice-cold Jordan Barnett leant on a ball through mid-on to chase down the final runs and lead Mersey to their third consecutive victory.

A stutter in the closing stages slightly dampened what was a dominant display. Next week Mersey travel to Langley hoping to make it four from four.

Thank you to our scorer Ollie, our supporters and our team sponsor Neurological Physiotherapy.