Milnrow CC in comfortable 98 run win against Werneth

Milnrow Cricket Club

Milnrow CC followed up their resounding victory over Oldham CC last weekend with a comfortable 98 run victory against Werneth CC on Sunday.

This was an excellent team performance with every player making an important contribution to the victory. Milnrow were put into bat and after losing Steve Dryden early on, built a strong start with Lee Crabtree and Rob Wilman both batting solidly and playing good scoring shots. Both batsmen played postive shots to make it into the thirties but were unable to go further and when pro James Price was out cheaply, Milnrow were 78/3 and their innings was in the balance.

It was Captain Max Power who stabilised the innings and then increased the scoring rate. Power made 55 off 64 balls, with 4 fours and a 6, before holing out to the fielder on the boundary edge. The increasing resilience of Milnrow's team was shown by the way Power was ably supported by Diplock and Wilkinson, who made 23 and 25 not out respectively. Defty chipped in with 15 and Milnrow made 213 for 8 off their 47 overs.

Milnrow's supporters were pleased to see the home team reach such a good total with only a small contributon from the professional, and it looked a challenging total for Werneth.

The confidence that Milnrow had gained led them to breakthrough in the first over of Werneth's innings when Price had Dronsfield lbw for 0. Both he and Diplock bowled tightly and economically, making it difficult for Werneth to maintain a good scoring rate and the fielding was tight.

However Entwistle and Javed worked hard to build a partnership of 80 before a key moment in the game. As the two batsmen went for a quick single, Bartley red the situation quickly and his direct hit ran out Entwistle for 32. This proved a decisive breakthrough as Wilkinson and Brown maintained the Milnrow pressure with Wilkinson getting one to turn to professional Zaman and Price snapping up the catch at slip.

Brown's bowled superbly to take 3 for 32 from his 13 overs and Wilkinson showed that he is in good form with 2 for 39 from his 14 overs. Price returned to claim the final three wickets with Rob Wilman taking three catches and Milnrow ran out comfortable winners.

The sense that this was a strong team performance was not lost on anyone and Power's men go into next week's home fixtures against Ashton and Radcliffe, both of whom have made good starts to the season, with the determination to build on the team's fine last two performances.