THE Groves were undone by a magnificent individual display as their three-match unbeaten Meller Braggins League Division Three run came to an end on Saturday.
Nitin Srivastava smashed 99no off 44 balls to fire table-topping Chelford to a nine-wicket victory over Martin Flanagan’s shell-shocked side.
Groves captain Flanagan said: “There’s not a great deal you can do against a player of that quality in that sort of mood so we just really need to put it down to experience and move on.”
After electing to bat first on a dry-looking wicket, The Groves made good progress through Mike Caulfield (29) and Martin Flanagan (13).
But once the openers were dismissed, wickets began to tumble.
Nathan Evans and Byron Ward went for ducks, leaving the score at 48-4, before Mark Evans (28) and Daz Green (7) added a steady 37.
Tight bowling resulted in fewer runs being scored although Alan Tidman (17) and Nick Brimble (17no) did manage to take the score to a competitive 145-9 off 45 overs.
Against a strong batting line up, The Groves knew that a good start was needed.
They got one, too, when Chris Fenn nicked one behind to Ward off the bowling of Flanagan (1-26).
That, however, was as it good as it got for the Ellesmere Port visitors as Srivastava let loose.
The Indian professional clipped his first ball off his legs for six and went on to hit the attack to all parts of the ground as Chelford raced to 149-1 inside 18 overs.
The Groves, who have slipped to third from bottom, host second-placed Langley on Saturday.
Ellesmere Port’s Cheshire Alliance Division One promotion prospects were dealt a potentially fatal blow on Saturday when they were beaten by 80 runs at relegation-threatened Bowdon Vale.
The defeat leaves fifth-placed Port 69 points off the top two going into the final five matches of the season.
Chris Gatrell’s side bowled well enough at Priory Street, snaffling Bowdon Vale for 139.
Dwayne Bernard (4-22) and Gareth Boys (3-28) did most of the damage for the visitors, whose reply was nothing short of disastrous as they were skittled for 59.
Port face a crucial clash on Saturday when they host second-placed Haslington.
