Winnington 157-2 Congleton 155
IN a weekend when many games fell foul to bad weather, Winnington moved up the Cheshire County League.
Having won the toss, Winnington had no hesitation in making visitors Congleton bat first.
Again the opposition had a good start and reached 50-1 from 13 before the introduction of Vish Bhardwa's off-spin brought the run rate to a halt.
Congleton struggled to 100-6 off 35 overs and with Bhardwa (4-25) being supported by some good ground fielding that yielded three run outs, the innings closed on 155 all out from 49 overs.
With some rain in the air and already overs lost, Winnington knew they had to take the attack to their opponents and Jeremy Casey (54) and Eoin Welch (24) put on 97 for the first wicket, then Kevin Waterhouse (34no) and newcomer Mudassar Butt (25no) made sure that Winnington made it two wins in a row. Casey became the first player in Division Two to pass 500 runs this season.
Bhardwa said: 'It really feels like we are turning the corner and with the next three games being against the top three sides it is still not too late for us to mount a serious promotion challenge.'
* Oulton Park's league clash with Hyde was off on Saturday because of a waterlogged pitch.
But they were in action on Sunday as they romped to a six wicket win at Bowdon in the Lovelane Cheshire Cup third-round tie.
The home side posted 122-9, with Park replying with 123-4, Ben Spendlove top scoring with 45.
