Macclesfield beat third-placed Grappenhall in the penultimate home fixture of the season, with every game vital in their fight to avoid relegation.

After losing the toss, the Macclesfield bowling unit finally demonstrated what they’re capable of, producing by far their best collective performance of the season.

Setting the tone from ball one, Ian Tait and Jack Ward shared the new ball and bowled with unrelenting accuracy, asking questions of the in-form batsmen with every ball.

Generating significant movement off a good Macclesfield wicket, Ward in particular was difficult to play and picked up important early wickets.

Despite tight bowling, Grappenhall battled to 82-4 and still looked capable of posting a sizable score.

The introduction of Rob Porter into the attack made scoring even more difficult and the pressure began to tell, with wickets  starting to fall more regularly.

Ward bowled a mammoth 19-over spell, ending with season-best figures of 4-55.

Porter claimed the important wicket of Gaz Burns with a dipping full toss and the introduction of Chris Moores ensured Macc pressed home their advantage.

Moores swung the ball prodigiously and carded remarkable figures of 3-2 off four overs, finishing the Grappenhall innings on 119 all out.

A strong team effort with the bat ensured that the chase was never in doubt as contributions came from every player.

Rob Keen and Porter in particular took responsibility for the bulk of the runs, batting with the confidence that has been typical of this Macc side for the past few weeks.

Keen top-scored with a measured 35 and is hitting form at an important time.

Macclesfield passed the target in 29 overs and collected all 25 points from the day. With other results falling helpfully, Macclesfield cut the deficit to safety from 47 points to just 23, which bodes well for the final three weeks if they can keep their form up.

SUNDAY saw Macclesfield host New Brighton in the Cheshire Cup semi-final.

In an enthralling and well supported game, Macclesfield batted first and posted 268 off their 45 overs, with Australian Nick Ross batting majestically for his 98 off just 73 balls.

He was ably supported by Porter (67), Keen (30) and James Cross, who again showed his potential.

In a second innings in which momentum swung both ways regularly, New Brighton entered the final over requiring 10 runs to win with the boisterous crowd on the edge of their seats.

Unfortunately for the home side, New Brighton got home with one wicket to spare off the penultimate ball with some heavy hitting from South African CJ De Villiers.

Macclesfield can be proud of their cup run though, and they offered their thanks to all who supported.