MALPAS climbed to fourth in the Division One table thanks to a comfortable victory at Davenham.
The hosts batted first and were on the receiving end of some superb bowling from Jack Scascighini (4-23) and Dave Hunt (3-41). Davenham declared on 90-9 in order to protect their rookie last man from facing a ball.
The total was never going to seriously trouble Malpas and they reached 91-2 with Johnny Suckley (52no) and Mark Dunning (17no) seeing them home.
Alvanley surged back to the top of Division Two thanks to a comprehensive victory at home to Lindow.
James Rowlinson had too much pace for the visiting batsmen and he picked up two early wickets. Phil Jones and Peter
Pearce continued to bowl in miserly form as excellent catching and fielding meant Lindow could not get the run rate above three an over. Pearce took 5-50 as Lindow were restricted to 142-9.
Nick McKay (36) and Phil Jones (9) put on 45 runs for the first wicket but were both out in the same over. Then Cei Sanderson was brilliantly caught and bowled for nine which forced the middle order to consolidate.
Ian Charles and Glenn Pickersgill knew there was no rush and kept the score moving at the required rate. They both dispatched the occasional bad ball, Pickersgill in particular playing some fierce sweep shots to the boundary. When Charles was out lbw for 27 only 26 more runs were required for victory.
Chris Fletcher quickly eroded that challenge with two fours and a six which allowed Pickersgill to hit the winning runs off the first ball of the 43rd over with a magnificent straight six to finish on 43no. Alvanley travel to second-placed Cholmondeley tomorrow for a match that could hugely influence the destiny of the league title.
