Netherfield 178

Chorley 179-4

Chorley won by six wickets

Chorley Building Society Northern Premier League

CHORLEY sprung a huge surprise by deservedly beating an out-of-sorts Netherfield thanks to some superb work in the field.

Netherfield, who are usually strong at home but have played just twice at Parkside Road this season, won the toss and decided to bat first, but Craig Walmsley got the home side off to a poor start.

After being dropped in the first over, the opener sliced the ball to Stuart Naden off the impressive Chris Harty, who conceded just 18 runs from his eight overs, to leave the home side 1-1.

Chorley restricted Netherfield’s run rate with some superb fielding to deny the Parkside Road outfit runs, and they had reached just 14 when pro Colin Ackermann’s early season woes with the bat continued. He was given LBW off Billy Smith to be dismissed for seven and leave Field 14-2.

Ben Barrow and wicketkeeper John Huck steadied the ship for Field with a 70-run partnership, but their progress wasn’t fantastic and the home side were 77-2 halfway through the innings.

Two overs after drinks and Ben Barrow was cleverly stumped by wicketkeeper and captain Andrew Holdsworth having scored seven fours on his way to 43.

Marc Brown looked to have finally banished his poor scores with the bat this season by smashing three fours in the 31st over, but he went one too far as he tried for another boundary and clipped the ball to Andrew Griffiths at slip for 18 off pro Gaurav Dhar, leaving the home side 104-4.

Nobody was allowed to score highly enough for Netherfield as Chorley kept on top of the home side with a disciplined performance, and that problem was encapsulated when Will Moulton bowled Huck for 42 in the 36th over.

Chris Parry was doing his best for Field and he was not out on 41 with an impressive array of shots from 53 balls. But he was given absolutely no support as firstly Greg Hall was run out by David Fisher for 15 in the 45th over, leaving Netherfield 159-6.

The remaining wickets fell for the gain of just three runs as Field collapsed at the end to be all out for 178, which looked light on a gloriously sunny Cumbrian day.

In reply, opening bowlers Stuart Nixon and Ryan Wilson were taken off the strike early on. In the second over Wilson conceded 10 runs when Griffiths struck a single and Fisher two fours, while Chorley picked up 18 runs from Nixon’s second over to motor their score to 30-0 after only three overs, with Netherfield 2-1 at the same stage in the first innings.

Griffiths was caught behind by slip Ackermann for 33 in the 11th over as Chorley were 52-1, but Ian Dickinson at number three was excellent in chasing down the 179 needed for victory.

He struck 13 fours on his way to an unbeaten 66 with some excellent shot-making, but no fewer than five dropped catches from Netherfield gifted the away side victory.

In the 15th over with Fisher on 16 and Chambers bowling well, Huck dropped him and two overs later Nixon did the same thing at square leg as the opener pushed his luck.

Fisher got a six off Brad Earl’s first ball in the 23rd over to move the score onto 91-1 but one over later he was out LBW for 40 to Ackermann, who picked up five maidens from his 14 overs to hinder Chorley’s progress a tad.

Will Moulton and Dickinson were dropped in the 29th and 31st overs respectively, while Chris Parry couldn’t hold onto a Moulton shot in the gully two overs later.

And Field were made to rue their missed chances as the pair put on 73 runs before Moulton clipped to Huck in the 41st over off Nixon to put Chorley 155-3.

Stuart Naden only lasted four overs before he was caught by Parry off Wilson but the game was over as a contest by that point, and a single from Holdsworth in the 46th over sealed a superb victory for Chorley, leaving Netherfield down in eighth in the table.