THE last thing Chester County Officers expected at Radbroke Hall was a low-scoring thriller. But this is what happened after arriving to find that the covers had been left off during Thursday's heavy rain, resulting in a sluggish pudding of a wicket.
Chester were, unsurprisingly, put in and struggled throughout. Mike Clarke battled for 72 balls for 14 and Ian Barlow (15) survived for 48 balls as they added 36 for the second wicket.
The value of this partnership only became apparent later as no-one else managed double figures except for extras which contributed a valuable 23. The full 48 overs were used up, thanks to the returning Steve Jackson (8no), who came in at 70-6 and guided the total to 94-9.
At tea, Radbroke were confident but Chester had a surprise for them. Steve Johnson struck twice in the seventh over, literally knocking over last week's centurian Les Forsyth - who was bowled off his helmet avoiding a lifter - and then sent a bail all the way to third man as Rauf was skittled third ball.
Radbroke were playing their new overseas Indian all-rounder Manoj Roy but, having survived a justified stumping appeal first ball, he could make nothing of Andy Barlow's in-swing and was as bogged down as everyone else in the match.
Wickets continued to fall and Roy succumbed in frustration in the 19th over for eight in 52 balls, caught at mid-off trying to free the shackles of Johnson, the score 25-6.
John Gilbody and Clarke joined the action, both snapping up a wicket to leave Radbroke at 39-8. The target was now 56 in 10 overs and Officers asked Mike Rowlands to bowl some tempters to keep the score moving. Atef responded by hitting a quickfire 17.
However, Johnson lured him into a trap and bowled him, leaving the home skipper Almond to join deposed opener Christison to save the game.
A dropped catch in the slips by Tony Collard could have been expensive, but when Christison tried to farm the bowling, cool-hand Gilbody finished the job with an accurate throw to inspirational wicket-keeper Tony Hattersley. Almond was run out, too slow out of the blocks, and Radbroke were all out 69 with three overs to spare.
This was a superb victory based on the accurate bowling of Johnson 4-19 in 15 overs and Andy Barlow 3-8 off 12 disciplined overs, with a tight fielding performance. Officers are now third in the table.
The seconds got the better of Radbroke Hall after declaring at 186-6 from 39 overs (Alan Roberts 38, Paul Owen 42, Geoff Stubbins 32).
Radbroke were bowled out for 163, Alan Roberts and Adam Gewargis each taking four wickets.
A determined 73 by long-standing opener John Elliot almost clinched victory for Kingsley at Sandbach. Earlier in the day, Latham (53) and Williams (39) took advantage of conditions which offered little help to Kingsley's swing attack, to build a solid start for Sandbach.
Only a productive spell by leg spinner Matty Ollier (4-58) stemmed the flow of runs and restricted the home side to 188-9 declared.
Elliott and Leneghan (35) built another solid platform from which Kingsley should have won the match, but the introduction of Williams (3-41) ensured the chase was never going to be easy. With 18 needed from three overs, Shallcross returned to take two quick wickets and ensure the match was a draw.
In an excellent game at the Croft, Kingsley seconds did their best but came up short in a thrilling run chase. Sandbach batted first and put on 185-6 in their 48 overs.
Kingsley's run chase started well and openers Butcher (45) and Ashley (65no) put on 69 for the first wicket to give the innings a platform.
With wickets in hand, the batsmen went for their shots and Leatherland (46) took the bowlers on with some aggressive shots. However, two quick wickets in the penultimate over stemmed the flow of runs and meant Kingsley fell just short at 170-4.
Nearly 500 runs were scored as Saughall drew with Liscard. Stand-in skipper Chris Andrews wouldn't have been too disappointed to be inserted on a flat track after losing the toss, and his opening partnership of 61 in quick time with Paul Booth set the tone for the rest of the innings.
Booth was first to be dismissed for 37 and then the skipper followed shortly afterwards, caught at mid-on for 32. The star of the show was Andy Thomas who has been a revelation since promotion up the order. The youngster's 66 was his first half-century for the club and formed the backbone of a 77 third-wicket stand with Richard Tomlinson (36), who was run-out attempting a sharp second run.
Les Perkins (44) and Mike Rowson (16) then bludgeoned the bowling attack into the nearby park, enabling the declaration to arrive after 43 overs with the score on 255-6.
With 20 overs completed, Liscard had raced to 126 and, incredibly, Saughall's lofty total was looking inadequate and vulnerable.
A direct hit from the boundary by Pete Tunnicliffe broke the opening partnership and then the introduction of slower bowlers Perkins and Chris Andrews into the bowling attack began to stem the flow of runs.
As a result, the pressure told on the Liscard batsmen with Mike Andrews taking two expertly-judged catches on the long-on boundary and when Chris Andrews caught and bowled Roberts for 94, Saughall were in the ascendency again.
In an intriguing contest, Liscard continued their attacking philosophy, but a flurry of boundaries would then be followed by a Saughall wicket as the pendulum swung one way and then the other.
With the score on 188-6, Saughall, who for the first time for 20 years were without a member of the Huxley family, were eyeing victory. But a 31 seventh-wicket partnership gave Liscard a glimmer of hope of achieving victory as the overs ticked by.
As the shadows lengthened, a well-taken catch by Jon Grimshaw to dismiss Kewley for 19, and then a disguised slider from spinner Chris Andrews (4-51) to clean-bowl Buratti for 14, signalled the end of Liscard's intent and they blocked remaining balls for a draw.
Liscard ended on 23-8 and Saughall notched up 14 points to Liscard's eight.
