The 1st XI were greeted by overcast conditions and a ‘green top’ upon arrival at Upcast Lane for their inaugural Premier League visit to the scenic venue. Despite the bowler friendly conditions, both sides were a little uncertain as to what to do at the toss. Lindow won it and decided to bat (Dids were going to bowl after much team debate) meaning that 24 points were in the offering for the 1st XI.

From the onset, Lindow struggled to build a strong total as some early wickets put Dids in the driving seat with opener J Hedges (5) and M Law (0) falling cheaply to Boothy, who was relishing the opportunity to bowl in conditions somewhat akin to April rather than July. Horse was replaced in the attack by a reminiscent Egg who was, seemingly, wanting to roll back the years and bowl in tandem with his old, new ball partner. That or just the scent of wickets was just too strong for the skipper to resist. The key wicket was removing England over 40, Duffy, who had fought hard to build a composed innings of 40 off 63 balls (8 fours) before under edging Boothy to Charlie who took a great catch stood up to the stumps. Egg then took on the wicket taking baton with the next 3 batters falling to him and at this point, Lindow were in real danger of posting a score way below par. However, Lindow’s captain, Matthews, added some impetus to the innings with a fluent 39 off 48 but the tail was soon spun out by Wiz and Tips (courtesy of an epic slip catch by safe hands Sehm). Despite Matthew’s and Duffy’s efforts, Lindow's innings lacked sustained partnerships, and regular breakthroughs by Didsbury’s attack kept them pinned back. A chase of 156 was sure to be tough considering the wicket and strength of Lindow’s bowling but it still remained a below par score and Dids were clear favourites at half way.

In response, Didsbury CC paced their chase intelligently, recovering from early hiccups to reach the target with 4 wickets in hand. Lindow were cockahoop after the in form Yoz departed early for 6 but if ever there was a match scenario made for the nuggety Haf and stoic Abhay, it was this. A partnership of 27 took the wind out of Lindow’s sails somewhat as well as pushing Dids into the 40s before Tips was castled by the impressive left armer, Espley. Enter Sehm, the bludgeoning of Bowdon still fresh in many people’s memory, but a different knock was required on this occasion; especially after Haf nicked a wide one leaving Dids 49-3. Now joined at the crease by his skipper, Sehm continued to bat patiently, playing the anchor role with aplomb. Not that he had much choice as Lindow were bowling with good accuracy and to clear plans. When Espley cleaned up Egg, their tails were really up with Dids now floundering at 61-4 and box office Wiz walking to the crease. Upon playing and missing a big booming drive to the first ball he faced, a shout from the cordon of ‘not your wicket this, Steve’ gave a sense of Lindow’s optimism. However, the pair dug in and built a match winning partnership of 69 through a mixture of solid defence and, when given the opportunity, some eye catching shots through the off side. Sadly, Sehm’s innings was curtailed after being adjudged to have tickled a ball down the leg side to the keeper but his knock of 47 off 72 really was decisive. Charlie, fresh as a daisy after napping during a lot of the early innings tension, walked in with Dids still needing 25 but looked utterly assured throughout scoring a breezy 15 off 14. Unfortunately, Wiz couldn’t see it through becoming Espley’s 5th victim as he was caught at square leg after top edging a pull shot meaning it was left to his not-so-little brother, James, to finish the job. Nonetheless, Wiz’s 28 off 41 was also a commendable innings considering the circumstance.

So, a fairly convincing 4 wicket win in the end for Dids. It was very much a case of ‘banana skin avoided’ which was especially important as all the other teams around the top of the league also achieved 24 point wins. It would be interesting to know if Lindow’s skipper would go back and change his decision on batting first. Looking forward, it’s a big week upcoming for the 1st XI with a QF in the T20 cup away to Bowdon on Thursday as well as a QF in the Cheshire Cup on Sun at home to Chester. Not forgetting, of course, a very important league game on Sat as we welcome Brooklands to Wilmslow Road.