Sale 134 all out (45.5)

Oulton Park 136-3 (33.4)

Oulton Park won by 7 wickets.

SALE made a disappointing start to the season after being well beaten by Oulton Park by seven wickets in Division One of the Vivio Cheshire County League.

Sale got off to a cautious start after being invited to bat first, adding 24 for the first wicket before Mat Spells was trapped lbw for 13.

Tyrone Lawrence and debutant Luke McCoy both fell without scoring to leave the innings in trouble at 28-3.

Brooke Guest was next to go for 28, bowled by Andy Hards off his last over.

Ian Dixon and Dan Halkon then added 54 in even time to bring up the Sale hundred.

Just as they were starting to get on top, Halkon edged behind for 33 and Dixon was trapped lbw attempting a sweep off Sam Blandford for 36.

Wickets continued to fall as the lower order failed to keep the momentum going, being bowled out for 134 with four overs to go. Blandford (5-40) and Hards (4-25) did the damage.

Oulton Park started their reply confidently, Martin East making a run-a-ball 70 in a 93-run partnership with Danny Leech.

Sale captain Chris Canning tried numerous bowling changes, but the visitors were always ahead of the rate.

Two late wickets for Rick Halkon proved a consolation as Oulton Park reached 136-3 with 20 overs to spare, Leech finishing unbeaten on 62.

The second and third XIs made it a clean sweep of defeats over the weekend.

The seconds lost by six wickets at Upton despite a fine all-round performance from Joe Cannon who scored 45 not out and took two wickets.

Sale were dismissed for a below-par 144 in 46 overs and Upton cantered home after tea thanks to 82 from Andy Beacher.

The thirds had a somewhat closer T20 cup match at Didsbury, where both teams played through persistent showers to reach a finish.

Soans Praveen scored 46, supported by 34 from Siyan Siraj as Sale posted 100-9.

Tight bowling kept the home side behind the rate, but with wickets in hand they were able to accelerate in the final overs to reach the target for the loss of four wickets.

This weekend the first XI travel to Warrington, while the seconds play the reverse fixture. The thirds complete their T20 mini league against Bredbury on Sunday and Urmston on Monday, both at home.