Bowdon let off hook by Macc
MACCLESFIELD CC were back in action at the weekend, this time away at second in the league, Bowdon CC. The hosts won the toss and decided to bat first on a glorious summer’s day.
Macc bowled with discipline in the opening overs thanks to Birchall and Moores as the East Cheshire outfit didn’t allow the home team to get off to a flying start.
Plenty of dot balls ensued with the odd single here and there as the Bowdon openers (Marshall and Tipton) were content to play carefully and risk-free, seeing off the new ball with all wickets still intact.
Marsden and Raja were brought into the attack to try and find a breakthrough.
However the opening batsmen continued to bat in the same responsible but reserved fashion as Macc’s bowlers gave nothing away.
This was very much the script up until the 40 over mark, no wickets lost but only three runs per over being scored.
Things soon changed as Tipton passed 50 but was soon caught by Birchall off Raja’s bowling- Bowdon were now 134-1. This sparked somewhat of a collapse.
Marshall was neatly run out for 79 by Nick Bertus and as a result of some tight bowling and good catching Macc were rewarded with a flurry of wickets in the latter overs as Bowdon finished on 181-8 off their 55 overs.
Birchall finished with figures of 4-28 and Raja ended with figures of 3-58.
Macc now had a great chance to beat one of the league’s best teams.
However the chase begun terribly as Bowdon’s danger paceman, Chris Ashling ripped through Macc’s top order single handedly, leaving them on 14-4.
Alex Griffiths and Bertus steadied the ship for a little while before Griffiths was caught behind off the same bowler.
Birchall then came to the crease with the score on 32-5 and himself and Bertus not only started to recover the innings but were slowly bringing Macc back into the game.
However, Bertus departed for a resilient 44 off the spin of Ball, leaving the score on 97-6.
A real courageous and class 65 run partnership had unfortunately come to an end and Macc were now really up against it again.
Greig batted well to keep Macc’s hopes alive and supported Birchall admirably. However when Ball dismissed Greig for 12 and Macc were on 123-7, it was just a matter of time before Bowdon claimed victory.
And indeed in the very next over it was all over, as Birchall, who had batted brilliantly was caught for 45 at mid wicket.
Raja and Bostock were then bowled in the same over, leaving Ashling with figures of 8-22 and Macc all out for 123.
Macc now look ahead to the last six games knowing they need to win as many as possible in order to climb out of the relegation zone.
They are back in action this coming Saturday at home to Cheadle, in a game sponsored by The Balti Kitchen, Macclesfield.