It’s one of the best fixtures in the calendar year for the 2As. Playing at home (Didsbury, not Mere), coloured kit, lots of people down to support and watch Bells stretch on the boundary, and the ground/deck actually being prepared.

Kudos to Sean and Billy for getting down to the ground around 4/4:30 to help get the square sorted, after the heavy rainfall we have experienced over the past few days. Must be nice to be able to finish at work that early..

Cheadle Hulme were relegated from Division One last year and are struggling this season. Regardless, anything can happen in the shorter format so, once the team turned up (minus Haaris) we got a warm up going and prayed for Rehmani to win the toss. Sun is out, short leg-side boundary, gotta be a bat first. It’s a shame Rehmani didn’t try hard enough to win the toss last Saturday, but it worked this time around!

Tom and Arch opened up and the pair took a few overs to get started, with the score on 16-0 off 3 overs. It felt alien being able to trust the bounce, drive on the up, and get value for your shots. Archie took full advantage of this, with 17 runs coming off his bat in the fourth over. The next over saw four overthrows from secret agent Ibraheem, now in Cheadle colours, who helped keep the run rate up. Dids (Archie) accelerated the score to 74-0 off 7 overs. Archie’s 50 came off just 32 balls, and he continued this tempo throughout his innings.

Some interesting moments in the first 10 overs included Cheadle’s off-spinner bowling without a mid-off for most of his spell, and Tom nearly taking the fielder at point’s head off with a cut shot. Dead-ball, no run, apparently. Absolutely livid.

Dids moved to 102-0 off 11 overs, before Beresford was bowled for 25. Rob and Archie put another 20 on before Billy, a late transfer deadline 2A T20 squad signing, came in to play a very pleasing 30 off 17 balls. All this time, Archie continued on his way to 90 odd in quick time, playing gradually more and more to cow corner the longer his innings went on. Will removed at the end of the 19th over, with Archie still needing 3 runs for his ton.

It felt like the longest over of all time. Watching Sunil try really hard to starve Archie of the strike and miss out on his hundred was a sight to behold. The crowd were silent. No one moved. The penultimate ball was a full toss with the short leg-side boundary. Sunil swung hard, but somehow killed the ball dead by his feet and called through a run. Archie was already at his end by then. No way was he going to not run. Sunil has hit some of the biggest sixes I’ve ever seen, so I don’t quite get how the ball went nowhere. It must’ve been played on purpose.

Final ball of Didsbury’s innings. Archie on 98*, he throws his bat at a wide one, and it bypasses backward point into the vacant area near the nets. Three runs off the last and a well-deserved, debut Dids hundred for Archie off just 61 balls. Onto the Didsbury home changing room honours board! The 2As set 188 off their 20 overs, 2
three times what they scored on Saturday against Alvanley, and that was off 33 overs. How can you not love Mere…

Anyway, Cheadle had a mountain to climb and needed to start well. Rehmani, the charitable man that he is, went for 15 off his first. The runs then dried up - largely due to Baseem’s excellent spell, going for just 10 runs and bowling through the powerplay. Golden-arm Sunil replaced Rehmani and, after two drops in as many overs, got the breakthrough. 35-1 off 7 overs. Sunil then claimed his second wicket, the other Cheadle opener, caught well on the boundary by Beresford, and then Billy ran out Ibraheem superbly from the big leg-side boundary.

With spin at both ends and the field spread, the rate crept up, and presented more chances for Didsbury. 5 wickets in 5 overs from Shish, Haaris, and Bells, before Rehmani cashed-in his captaincy card to take the final two wickets in the penultimate over. Cheadle was bowled out for 98.

All in all, a comfortable win for the 2As who progress into the third round. Huge efforts from Archie, a solid bowling effort from all the bowlers, and great energy in the field. Hopefully the 2s get through Heaton Mersey and we are one step closer to another Dids T20 derby.

Onto Grappenhall in the league this Saturday to put things right after last weekend.

Picture: Archie walking off 101* having batter for the full 20 overs.