Lindow 1st team travelled to promotion rivals Woodford on Saturday, looking to steal a march on their local rivals. Skipper Walker won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that looked as though it may cause a couple of issues for the batting line-up, however he backed his troops.
Hoyle got the visitors off to a quick fire start, hitting a swift 30. Matt Mitchell and James Bracewell also chipped in on a challenging wicket that runs did not easily flow from. As the heat increased Lindow managed to push the score on with Patrick Christys taking the total to 199 for 9 off the allotted 45 over's.
Walker picked up an early wicket to put the home side on the back foot, before speed demon Scott Howarth took 3 quick wickets leaving Woodford 43 for 3 and up against it. Hayes and Ramsden made the middle order work hard for any runs and also picked up a couple each, making use of the dry wicket. Pace off the ball from Bosshardt completed the win for Lindow, picking up the final 3 wickets with the home side only on 139. A true team performance and a maximum point weekend for Lindow which sees them push into second spot.
The second team welcomed Prestbury for the second time in a week after knocking them out of the 2020 Quarter Final in mid week. After winning the toss Lindow chose to bat on a dry, hard deck. Hume played a sensible innings, picking off the Prestbury bowlers, supported by Barltrop who played some classy shots across the ground. Hume eventually fell for 45 with the score on 105 off 21. Kendrick came to the crease and pushed the score on with Barltrop (72) before he was bowled by Yas. Kendrick stayed at the crease scoring freely, finishing on 100 not out and declaring after 43 over's on 251 for 3. A great batting performance from the home side.
The challenge was always going to be bowling out the visitors on a hard, dry wicket. Ahmed and McBride opened the bowling but struggled to find much from the wicket, with the game very much in the balance. Hume was introduced to the attack and picked up a couple of quick wickets, supported by Wickenden at the other end.
Over's passed by and wickets fell at various intervals, utilising a number of bowlers, however Lindow were only able to pick up 8 wickets for 205, keeping their unbeaten run going, but not gaining maximum points for the day. They still remain clear at the top of Division B.
Match report by David Kendrick.
