4th XI fall short

On a roasting hot day, the TCC skipper Usman had no hesitation in opting to bat first. Advised to be positive, openers Bhatti & Khan took on the NE Cheshire opening attack and raced to 78 before Bhatti was out for a belligerent 40. With spin bowling introduced to try & regain control of the scoring rate, Khan unfortunately holed out at extra cover for 26 and from that point momentum fell out of the Timperley innings as Williams and Burgess turned the screw going on average for 2 an over over 20 overs between them. Finding bounce and turn, both bowled well to restrict Timperley's middle order.

Coming in at 4, Carr looked the best of the middle order and was able to keep his personal tally ticking along nicely, hitting 6 fours in his eventual total of 30. With Williams and Burgess finished it was hoped that the the last 8 overs of the innings might recover lost ground but a steady fall of wickets prevented this and it was left to Bangee and Cross to play out the innings to close on 161 for 9 off the allotted 40 overs. At the time, the score felt 25 or so light and so it proved to be.

Usman opened the bowling and found swing with the new ball, ably supported by Tayyab. Both troubled the openers and Usman took a steepling return catch to dismiss Caine for 8. It was a good job he held it as Khan at Cover was just about to have a go himself at catching same. Usman then bowled Cuttes for 18 and Timperley thought they were back in it. Unfortunately Ritchie had not read the script and hit a run a ball 35 to get Cheshire ahead of the game before the returning Usman bowled him. Tayyab had also been reintroduced to try and take the game to Cheshire and was rewarded with a stump kisser that removed Dyson for 2. Usman then got Mullany caught behind for 36 and Timperley were back in it.

Heath was at the crease and decided that a long handle approach was appropriate to the run chase, hitting 18 without running before being bowled by Tayyab. Both teams were now closing in on potential victory although Cheshire were helped by a hapless drop by Fisher off Wetasinghe before he had scored a run. Turnbull was torpedoed by Tayyab for 2 and the game could have gone either way at 138 for 7. Unfortunately, Wetasinghe & Williams were able to inch Cheshire over the line to win by 3 wickets with 4.2 overs to spare.

A disappointing end to the game, one where Timperley were just a little bit short of the necessary mark in all 3 elements of the game