Given the terrible conditions leading up to the game all players welcomed a dry and sunny afternoon. Lindow lost the toss and were put into bat by the Kingsley skipper.
The hosts got off to the worst possible start losing a wicket from the very first ball of the game. Hoyle went about things in his usual aggressive fashion before being stumped for a quick-fire 21. Despite Mitchell going well the loss of two wickets in two balls left Lindow on 50-4 and the visitors were well on top.
Mitchell was joined at the crease by the skipper Barratt and the pair went gradually about rebuilding the innings. With spin the order of the day and few bad balls on offer the pair were content to rotate the strike and force the bowlers to try something different. Mitchell was the more aggressive of the two, his innings marked with various cover drives off both front and back foot. Mitchell departed for an invaluable 72 and a telling partnership of 110. Braddock joined Barratt at the crease and made a classy 25 before falling to the left arm spinner. Barratt (65) fell the next over looking for quick runs and a few lusty blows from Taylor allowed the skipper to declare at 43 over's with the score at 219-7.
The Kingsley openers never looked assured and it came as no surprise that McBride claimed his first scalp with the score at only 20. The aggressive intent shown by the Kingsley middle order was refreshing but it was not long before Tyler had his say picking up his first wicket in the 15th over. At drinks Kingsley has progressed to a good 105-2 and with the pitch playing few tricks the Lindow total looked less formidable than first thought.
The introduction of Ramsden after the drinks break proved telling as he frustrated the middle order and finished with an impressive 3-24. Along with wickets both Ramsden and Tyler (2-54) put a brake on the scoring rate and took defeat out of the equation. Howarth came back towards the latter part of the innings and picked up two quick wickets to leave the visitors eight down. Despite one last push the Lindow bowlers didn't quite have enough resources to finish the job and the score ended on 181-8. A good 16 points gained and the unbeaten run continues.
Lindow 2nd XI dominate but left frustrated with a draw
The Bank Holiday weekend saw a number of club regulars away which led to a somewhat makeshift team travelling to Kingsley. Skipper Inglis won the toss and chose to bat on what looked like a slightly worn pitch.
Kinglsey made an immediate breakthrough in the third over when opener Venables edged to the keeper for 4. With the pitch displaying signs of various bounce and with the early loss, the Kingsley bowlers went on the hunt for further wickets. However, they came up against two immovable objects in opener J. Peel and the returning J. Wild with the second wicket partnership being taken to over 90 before Wild was caught in the deep for a combative 36.
This brought skipper Inglis to the crease and with the score at 100 after 32 overs bowled the run rate was required to be increased to ensure maximum batting points to be gained. However, Inglis' first impact was to run Peel out for 59 but in the end this proved to be a masterful tactic as new batsman Huq went on to score a quick fire 42 not out in Lindow's first innings total of 189 for 5 (Inglis scoring 18 and Rose 14 not out).
After a superb tea, Lindow took the field on the hunt for early wickets. The new ball partnership of K. Ahmed and B. Rose bowled with real purpose and venom and quickly reduced Kingsley to 32 for 3 (all three wickets taken by Ahmed). Kingsley re-grouped and built their total to over 60 but just before drinks Lindow took the crucial wicket of Kingsley's captain Cook for 30, trapped LBW to Wearne and Ahmed took his fourth wicket to leave Kingsley at 67 for 5 off 23 over's.
Clearly not trusting the talents of their middle order, the Kingsley skipper gave the orders to shut up shop for the remainder of the day and the game was left to the Kingsley batters trying to survive against a closed in Lindow field.
Unfortunately, Lindow could not get all the remaining wickets and Kingsley finishing on 150 for 8 with O. Rowlands 60 not out and looking very comfortable at the crease (in fact, if given the freedom to have gone for the win he could well have given Lindow a real challenge).
The pick of the Lindow bowlers were K. Ahmed with 4 for 38 and C. Wearne with 3 for 19. Special mention should also go to B. Rose who, although did not take a wicket, bowled an outstanding opening spell and was very unfortunate not to pick up a wicket or two.
So once again Lindow were unable to bowl a side out despite dominating most of the game and were guilty on this occasion of not taking catches when available. In order to continue to challenge for the top of the table these opportunities will need to be taken. Having said this, to see sides holding out for draws when only 23 overs into their innings shows how well the team is playing at the moment. Next week Lindow travel to Chester County Officers.
Match reports by David Kendrick.
Photo: 1st team batsman Matt Mitchell.
