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Sale 2nd XI attempted to get their season back on track at Irby on Saturday, and came away with a draw in what turned out to be a tight finish. Sale skipper Howard Briggs won a rare toss and elected to bat. After the early loss of Malik, Briggs and Watterson put together a century stand for the second wicket which kept Sale in control of the game. Briggs, who was still recovering from injury, played fine innings reaching 50 before being bowled by Dare. Watterson fell shortly afterwards for 63, breaking his recent poor run of form.
Whitelegg, Zafar and Almond all reached double figures, but no real partnerships were formed, meaning the Sale lost momentum and threatened to fall short of 200. However, a determined 9th wicket stand of 16 between Hammond & Stoddard meant that Sale reached 200-8 declared.
Sale opening bowlers Moore & O'Donnell restricted the Irby batsmen to just 49 runs off the first 20 overs, but couldn't find the edge meaning the game was heading for stalemate. Watterson then took two wickets to get Sale in the hunt; however the arrival of number 5 Marriot (34) swung the game in Irby's favour for the first time.
Some determined hitting and some poor fielding in a 71 run partnership with Coppell (76) meant that Irby were in with a chance of victory. However two suicidal run outs and the return of Moore & O'Donnell (3-49) meant that Irby fell 4 runs short of their target with only 2 wickets in hand in what proved to be an exciting finish.
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