ASHTON-on-Mersey fought out a tense draw at Lymm in a see-saw Cheshire Cricket League Division One clash which went to the wire.

In a brave move Ashton elected to bat first on a track which promised help for the bowlers.

But the decision was fully vindicated as Lee Brooks and Fred Kamstra produced a 145-run partnership for the second wicket.

Kamstra was at his fluent best, hitting 82 before falling to Nick Chadbourne.

When Brooks went for a valuable 46, the Ashton innings faltered as the middle order found it hard to press for runs on a two-paced pitch which Chadbourne (5-44) exploited expertly. The eventual total of 202-9 was somewhat below expectations given Ashton’s excellent start.

The Lymm response was built around a century partnership between Jon Fletcher (68) and Nafees Din (72) but when Fletcher fell to the spin of Mike Roberts and Din to the pace of James Marshall, Lymm’s prospects looked bleak.

However, Matthew Bradshaw had other ideas. Flinging the bat to great effect, he posted a rapid 22 to bring Lymm back into contention, before falling to Marshall.

Any result was possible going into the last over but Josh Knowles bowled an excellent six balls to leave the home team five runs short of victory with two wickets in hand.