A warm and dry Upcast Lane was the venue for Lindow's sixth game of the season against Ashley. Home skipper Barratt won the toss and elected to bat on an excellent surface.
Despite the early loss of Hoyle, Ramsden and Mitchell enjoyed the extra pace on the ball and laid a brilliant foundation for the innings. Both batsmen scored at a brisk pace and it came as a surprise to everyone when Mitchell misread a googly and chopped on for a well-made 42. Ramsden fell two overs later, just one shy of his 50, with a shot he will surely regret as the days go by.
The fall of both set batsmen did not halt the scoring as both Bull and Bracewell continued to attack the spinners and found methods to counteract the talented Australian leg spinner. Bracewell (32) and Bull (39) both used their feet well and took calculated risks which paid off. Barratt (21) and Rose (20*) came in and scored quickly at the back end of the innings to get the score up to 218-7.
In response the Ashley's opening batsmen looked to grind down the Lindow bowlers and the tactic worked. Despite several bowling changes and various field settings the two survived through to drinks and at the halfway mark found themselves at 90-0. The bowling post drinks held up to the test but they were badly let down by their fielders. The home side found themselves completely out of luck as clear run outs, lbw's and stumping's were all overlooked and the 5 dropped catches did not help matters whatsoever.
With all the luck favouring the visitors it took a fine catch from Bull to remove the batsman and when Tyler removed the seconding opener Lindow looked right back in the game. Barratt struck in his second over and with the two bowling well in tandem it looked like Lindow may get away with a draw. However some incredibly sloppy fielding aided Ashley in their run chase and they ended up winning with 3 balls to spare and 5 wickets in hand. It was certainly Lindow's worst performance of 2013 but with lessons to be learnt there is still plenty of time to redeem themselves in the forthcoming weeks.
Lindow 2nd XI return to maximum points
Lindow's second away game in as many weeks saw the side travel to Chester County Officers. On losing the toss Lindow were asked to bowl first on what looked like a good batting track. Despite some good accurate bowling from the Lindow opening bowling duet, K. Ahmed and C. Wickenden, an early breakthrough did not materialise as a couple of half chances could not be taken by the keeper and slips.
However, runs were also at a premium and only 20 were on the board when Ahmed captured the first wicket LBW. The pattern of the match continued as Chester continued to accumulate runs at a sedate pace but without losing any wickets. Just when they were primed to accelerate A. Hume executed a difficult caught and bowled opportunity to remove the dangerous D. Hickey for 46. There then followed a mini collapse as Chester went from 78 for 2 to 96 for 6 in the space of 5 overs with both Hume and Wickenden picking up a couple of wickets each. Despite the middle order removed, Chester managed to find some useful lower order runs eventually ending up on 145 all out (A. Hume 4 for 50; C. Wearne 3 for 25; C. Wickenden 2 for 35; K. Ahmed 1 for 32).
In reply, both Lindow openers, J. Wild and J. Peel, continued where they left off last week by putting the Chester bowlers to all parts of the ground in an exemplary exhibition of batting. Although Chester cycled through numerous bowling options they could not find anyone to really trouble either opener as Lindow chased the total down without the loss of a single wicket. (J. Wild 69 not out; J. Peel 66 not out).
An excellent performance by both bowlers and batsmen and maximum points secured for Lindow. The team return to Upcast Lane next week against newly promoted Bunbury.
Match report by David Kendrick.
