Middlewich 2nd XI’s search for a first win of the season continued on Saturday as they fell to a heavy 96-run defeat away to Warrington CC 3rd XI, who were inspired by a stunning century from Mahtab Alam.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the home side made steady early progress before Alam took control. Blasting 24 boundaries in a commanding 124 off 103 balls, Alam anchored the innings and punished anything loose. He was well supported by Anees Umar (46) and Farhad Qayum (22) as Warrington posted a daunting 237-7 from their 40 overs.

Middlewich’s bowlers stuck to their task admirably with Jack Davies (2-43), Ted Prime (2-39) and Jigardan Gadhavi (2-67) all among the wickets. Marco Azakli (0-15 from 6) bowled with impressive economy to keep things tight in the middle overs.

In reply, Middlewich never found momentum. Despite a solid 37 from Omkar Singh and a fighting 29 from Craig Marsden at the top of the order, wickets fell too regularly to build a platform. James Senior (20) and Josh Cummings (19*) offered resistance, but the visitors were ultimately bowled out for 141 in the 33rd over.

Warrington’s bowling unit shared the wickets around with Anees Umar (4-31) doing the bulk of the damage and Abdul Javed (2-14) applying the squeeze at the death.

Middlewich 2s will look to regroup ahead of next weekend, knowing they’ll need both bat and ball to click if they are to turn encouraging moments into a much-needed win.