Perfect Opening Month For the 1's

Match Report 14/5

Heaton Mersey 1^st XI looked to make it 4 wins from 4 as they travelled to Weaverham and continue this great start.

On a very hot and sunny day, Laverty won the toss and elected to bat on what looked to be a very good batting track. With some tight bowling in the early overs batsmen struggled to score runs and the home side took advantage of this pressure by taking early wickets. Alishan Khan (10) fell first caught before Dom Gandy was caught behind for (5). Then another wicket fell as Josh Ainscough (5) was bowled with the score at 36-3. This brought John Moon to the crease to join John Barnett in a similar position to last week. Here the rebuild began as both batsmen took the game to the bowlers taking quick singles and punishing loose deliveries. Moon (51) reached his 50 but was soon after run out in a mix up after another solid partnership between the two batsmen to bring the score to a respectable 112-4 with plenty of time for the lower order to come in and increase the run rate. What came next could only be described as a blitz from our overseas, Craig Shirley who with John Barnett showed off a range of power hitting to rapidly increase the flow of runs with a partnership of 142 off 86 balls to ensure the 1^st XI reached a team total of 254 from 45 overs, surpassing 250+ runs for the first time since 2014. Barnett finished with an impressive (82*) and Shirley (78* off 47 balls) which included 5x4’s and 5x6’s.

Weaverham, with a large total to chase came out all guns blazing taking advantage of the good surface and scoring boundaries early on. Hassan Rashid then forced the loose shot from the opener and shortly after getting the number 3 in the same over. Weaverham set about rebuilding their innings and by taking advantage of a short boundary put on 39 for the third wicket before Rashid claimed his 3^rd wicket removing the other opener. Wickets then fell regularly throughout the Weaverham innings as Hassan Rashid finished with figures of (5-57 off 11 overs) and Ian Hughes (3-28 off 11 overs). John Barnett also picked up a couple of wickets in the two overs he bowled. This left Weaverham all out for 153.

A victory by 101 runs meant another 15 points for Mersey which takes them 19 points clear at the top of the table as they remain the only undefeated side in the division. Next week the 1^st XI are at home to Stockport Trinity looking to make it 5 wins from 5.

Thanks to our scorer Ollie, our positive supporters, …