Looking for their first victory of the season after two close games in previous weeks Lindow welcomed Chester County Officers to Upcast Lane.
Skipper Walker lost the toss and the visitors elected to bowl on a wicket that looked like it could only get flatter. There was something in it early doors for the bowlers and Lindow's openers had been taken out cheaply, with Aussie Blayde Baker having more bad luck being caught at mid on after the ball had struck the umpires head with quite some force and being deflected to a fielder. Lindows misfortune continued throughout the innings with the exception of Jamie Peel (43) who helped the team stagger to a well under par 104 all out.
The second innings couldn't have started much better for the home side with Walker picking up two wickets in the first over, shortly followed by another couple, leaving the visitors at 7 for 4. Chester managed to settle things down after the initial flurry and with some sensible batting pushed the score onto a more respectable 40 for 4 before Henry Grover made the breakthrough in his first over. Matthew Ramsden took another 2 wickets bowling some accurate spin. However with 6 over required and 2 wickets remaining, some streaky shots off Walker and Howarth's blowing saw the visitors home, leaving Lindow without a win so far this season. Next week's see them travel to Prestbury in a tough bottom of the league battle.
Lindow's 2nd team continued their impressive start to life in the top division with their third consecutive win, this one away at Chester County Officers which maintained their 100% record to date.
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first on what looked like a good track, Lindow got their innings off to a solid start. But with batsmen Rob Venables (19), Rowan Day (23), Andy Hume (19) and Dave Kendrick (19) each getting starts but failing to go on to post a really significant score, and with the lower order being dismissed cheaply, it looked like an uphill struggle at tea as Lindow were dismissed for a sub-par 123.
Not for the first time this season though, Lindow 2's showed great character to force their way back into the match. Tight and aggressive bowling was backed up by some excellent fielding, typified by Gedroge's salmon like leap and superb attempt at what would have been catch of the season had he been able to cling on to the ball.
Khalid Ahmed continued his excellent start to the season claiming three more victims and a tight spell from Kendrick was rewarded with 3 for 28. Skipper Day was able to finish off the tail (3-14) and Lindow were home by 12 runs.
Match report by David Kendrick.
