MARK Cahill celebrated a half century with a ton.
The big-hitting batsman struck an impressive hundred to see Runcorn to an eight-wicket win in their 50th-anniversary match on Sunday.
The game against Winsford was a repeat of the Moughland Lane club's first in its present guise in 1953 when Runcorn won by 67 runs. Celebrations are in full swing, although Friday's anniversary dinner at the Heath Restaurant seemed to have left several Moughland Lane men a little worse for wear. They slumped to a Meller Braggins Cheshire League defeat at home to Malpas the following afternoon. The champagne certainly flowed during a highly-entertaining evening as guest speaker Geoff Miller, the England selector and one-time Test spinner, amused with stories about some of the country's cricket greats. Special thanks too must go to Peter Ollerenshaw, who also entertained throughout proceedings.
But Runcorn will want to forget the events of Saturday. Having lost the toss, they were asked to bat on what appeared a batsman-friendly wicket. Despite soon losing Steven Olleren-shaw for a duck, in-form Cahill (34) and Steve Bebbington pushed the score along quickly.
Wickets fell regularly and the game appeared to be slipping away from an early stage. It was left to John Farmer to steady the ship with an unbeaten half-century. Good support came from veteran Steve Foster and youngster Jack Weston as Run-corn reached 192 from 45 overs. However, this didn't prove sufficient on a flat batting wicket and despite a spirited effort from the likes of Ollerenshaw, Foster and Weston, some aggressive batting led Malpas to victory with an over to spare.
