ASHTON on Mersey produced one of their best performances of the season to record a memorable victory on a rain-interrupted day at The Beets

Choosing to bat first, visitors Cheadle Hulme shrugged off an early wicket to hit out at the Ashton opening bowlers.

Richard Robinson was in particularly aggressive form, hitting an impressive 53 before falling to James Marshall.

Marshall (4-63) and Ben Johnson then brought the game back into Ashton’s hands with some tight bowling, allowing the hosts to control the run rate while picking up wickets.

Only some big hitting from the lower order allowed Cheadle Hulme to post a somewhat below-par score of 181. Marshall was the bowling pick with 4-63.

Rain during the tea interval saw overs lost but under the competition rules the target for Ashton remained the same.

When the game resumed, Ashton had just 33 overs in which to reach the target.

Opening batsman Akash Patel set the tone with a quickfire 25, before James Lines and Ed Faulkner took up the challenge.

Faulkner kept the runs flowing in a well-made 42, but Lines stayed focused to play a classic attacking innings to bring Ashton within sight of victory.

He eventually fell for 75 with the target all-but reached and despite some late wickets Ashton won with an over spare.

The victory, against a good Cheadle Hulme side, showed Ashton at their best and they will be looking to take the positives into their next match at Bredbury St Marks.

The second XI made it a double-winning Saturday for Ashton, as they also beat Cheadle Hulme.

Ashton made 236 all out, Isuru Perera top-scoring with 64, before bowling out Cheadle Hulme for 137, Ollie Chow taking 3-38.

Ashton’s third XI bowled out Woodley for 100 in a nine-wicket win, Bam Ravel taking 4-20, and the ladies completed a clean sweep with a 50-run win against Leigh.