CAPTAIN Adeel Bhatti almost inspired his Knutsford side to a victory in their opening game that appeared out of their reach at tea on Saturday.

They fell for 91 after winning the toss before a Cheshire League Division Four meeting with Audlem at Mereheath Lane.

Darren Longden (39) was their leading scorer, but only two other batsmen reached double figures as Simon Swift took 4-37.

However Bhatti, with impressive figures of 6-25, and Zeeshan Shah (3-29) worked their way through the visitors’ order before their last-wicket pair took them to their victory target at 92-9.

Knutsford’s seconds drew with their Aston counterparts after closing their innings on 113-8.

Earlier, Jiten Parmar (3-42) had been the pick of the bowling attack as the hosts posted 168-7.

The first team visit Pott Shrigley on Saturday, while the seconds play host to Cholmondeley.

Both matches start at 1pm.