The win lifts Didsbury to fourth, its highest position so far this season, leapfrogging Sale in the process. While safety is still not mathematically guaranteed, this means that Didsbury probably needs one more win to retain its place in Division One next year.

Sale won the toss and decided to bat first on a hybrid wicket that has seen 2 or 3 games on it. The pitch was flat and hard, and the outfield was slow largely down to its dewy surface.

Opening up with Ben and Saad, the plan was to attack early on with the new ball, two slips and a gully, pitching it up and giving it a chance. That’s exactly what led to the first wicket, with Saad taking the edge of Sale’s top run-scorer this year, Jenkinson, to slip.

Sale replied by attacking anything short and quickly moved past 50. Saad bowled Iqbal for his second, capping off an excellent first spell, and which resulted in slowing the rate considerably. Also responsible for this was Haris coming on early and finding some big turn, and 14-year old Nikash Hinduja, who started off his excellent spell with 3-2-1-1, capturing the Sale captain in the process. At drinks, Didsbury were the happier side.

The second session was very different. Smart (63) and Moran (48) put on almost a century between them over the course of the next 17 overs, putting Sale back in control. Didsbury tried different plans but were limited by the number of bowling options available. This meant that Sean tried his arm for a few overs to give the bowlers a rest and try to slow the rate.

Soon after the break, Didsbury broke the partnership as Moran chipped a drag-down from Sean to Haris at midwicket, who took the catch at the second attempt. A gift!

The urgency from Sale picked up as they had wickets in hand and were going at under 5s. This opened up run-out chances, one of which was taken by Tom, taking the wicket of Smart, who batted very well for his half century. The boost from these quick-fire wickets didn’t last long as Sale counter-attacked with Manfredi (32) and Soans (29) who put on 50 run stand in 8 overs, taking Sale close to 250. This was about par. Nikash came back to bowl an excellent second spell at the death, ending up with 12-2-48-2, and I’m told that it was double the number of overs he has ever bowled in a competitive men’s game.

Both sides happy at half time and it teed up an intriguing run chase.

Opening up with Corbs and 13-year old (?) Tanmay, Didsbury set itself on its way. An early mix-up resulted in a run-out of young Tanmay in the second over of the innings.

This did not trouble the scoring rate of the Didsmen, who went at 5s, largely down to Corbs (29) before he was dismissed at the end of the powerplay, slashing to gully. The fielder then threw the ball at Corbs after taking the catch, resulting in some bad blood for much of the second innings.

Rob anchored the innings, putting on a half century stand with Shabih (17), playing his first game for the 2As following his Finals Day heroics the weekend before. The pair steadied the ship up to drinks, for Shabih to then get caught attempting one of the shots he played so well the week before.

A familiar partnership of Rob and Sean, who helped Didsbury beat Nantwich a few weeks prior, put on 77 runs in 16 overs in the second session, keeping with the rate. Sean was dismissed for 35 and then Rob was caught after attempting a ramp on 86, the stand-out innings of the day. The result was still in the balance.

Saad was shortly run-out, leaving Didsbury on 209-6 off 42.3 overs, so needing less than a run a ball for victory. Zohaib batted excellently for his almost run-a-ball 31, before holing out to deep midwicket. Tom and Nikash then put on 20 to bring Didsbury close to the finishing, needing just 5 runs to win, before the skipper ran himself out attempting a run to mid-on, and then Nikash was missed the very next ball. Didsbury were 9 down, 5 to win, and had 10 balls to get them. Nerves crept in and Sale were buoyant to be back in the game.

That quickly dissipated as a full toss by Manfredi was launched for 6 by Haris over deep backward square, hitting the top deck of the clubhouse, winning Didsbury the game.

Everyone played their role, fielding well in the final 10 overs, running positively between the wickets during the run chase and building partnerships. The bowlers worked very hard in tough conditions and the team caught well.

The game was marred with controversy, strong language, and for the captains to come together on several occasions to de-escalate situations. With all that taken into account, it made the run-chase that much more impressive, for the lads to keep their heads and stick to the plan, not getting too caught up in what else was going on.

Didsbury play Grappenhall at Mere next week in an attempt to secure their place in Division 1 next year.

Report written by Tom Beresford.