Luke Robinson’s sparkling start to the Cheshire County Cricket League season continued as he guided Nantwich to an emphatic victory over old rivals Chester Boughton Hall.
Robinson (pictured) followed up his opening day 67 in the win at Cheadle with a stylish, unbeaten 65 against Chester to help the Dabbers to another 25 points.
Skipper Ray Doyle put the visitors into bat on a tricky surface and his bowlers soon took advantage of the helpful conditions, Jason Foulkes following up his seven-wicket debut at Cheadle by claiming three early Chester victims.
Lee Dixon and Atif Qureshi showed a hint of middle-order resistance but Phil Stockton (4-32) and Mitchell Spencer (3-29) combined to dismiss Chester for 116.
It was a measure of Chester’s struggles that no batsman outscored the total of 26 extras.
And in the early stages of the Nantwich reply, the home batsmen also found it tough and when Doyle was out cheaply to leave his side on 52-4, it looked as though Chester would make more than a fight of it.
But after being joined by Foulkes, Robinson stepped on the gas and hit four sixes and six fours in his faultless knock before leaving his partner to mark his home debut by hitting a winning maximum.
Foulkes finished unbeaten on 21.
After the opening two rounds of ECB Premier League action, the Dabbers are one of three teams with perfect records.
In the rain-affected 2nd team game at Chester, Nantwich had to be content with a draw as they struggled to 156 all out after being put into bat.
Captain Ben Mogg top-scored with 30 while Jakob Jordan and Adam Simpson both hit 28 but even with a reduced allocation of 37 overs, the target looked well within Chester’s reach when opener Matthew Griffiths hit 45 but Mogg (3-49) and Alex Darlington (2-19) chipped away and Chester finished on 151-8.
In the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League Division Seven, Nantwich 3rds suffered a heavy defeat at home to Audley CC.
Knocks of 70 and 90 from Amal Mohanan and Dan Hammersley respectively saw Audley post 233-4 in their 40 overs and Nantwich were never on course to reach their target even though Nick Bentley hit an unbeaten 43.
Robert Howell hit 26 and Ricardo Rebelo made 29 but the Dabbers fell 79 runs short.
Rebelo was also in the runs for the Sunday 3rd team, his unbeaten 68 powering Nantwich to a T20 group game victory at Toft, where the hosts posted a target of 106 from their 20 overs.
Nantwich lost a couple of early wickets cheaply but Rebelo and Karl Prince (21 no) saw them home with seven wickets and 2.1 overs to spare.
*The 1st team travels to Hyde CC this Saturday May 6 and the 2nds entertain Hyde at Whitehouse Lane for a midday start. All spectators are more than welcome. The Saturday thirds travel to Rode Park and the Sunday thirds go to Toft.
(Story by Andy Dunn, images courtesy of Graham Pearson)
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