Skelmersdale race to nine wickets victory
IF Highfield eventually win promotion to the ECB Premier League in September, the thoughts of their players may wander back to the last ball of their nerve-racking match against Sefton Park on Saturday.
The visitors needed two runs to win but home skipper James Taylor bowled Joe Francis with the last possible ball of the game to leave his side victorious by a solitary run.
That wicket left Taylor with figures of 6-41 but defeat was hard on Sefton Park, for whom Shakeem Clarke and Rob Houghton had taken three wickets apiece in the first half of the game. With his side needing 170 to win, Neil Durand then made 56 before Taylor shattered the hopes of Richie Forsyth’s side.
That win was important for the leaders on a day when second-placed Rainford secured a thumping 147-run victory over Wigan. Paul Farrar’s 108 off 100 balls allowed John Dotters’ men to post a formidable 239-8 declared in 55 overs before Wigan managed only 92 in reply. Stephen Birkett took 4-36 and Andrew Davies bagged 3-28 to put the skids under the Bull Hey team.
High-flying Orrell Red Triangle came a cropper at Newton-le-Willows where Muhammad Asif’s 91 not out and Chris Chambers’ 68 enabled the home team to overhaul the visitors’ 225-9 declared and notch a fourwicket triumph. Earlier, Richard Everett’s 100 had helped give ORT’s bowlers a decent target at which to bowl.
There was another centurion on the losing side at Sandy Lane where Hightown St Mary’s Matty White made 102 in his team’s 193-9 declared in 55 overs against Skelmersdale. However Jordan Maddocks’ 62 not out and Saurabh Amre’s unbeaten 76 took Skem to a ninewicket victory in only 37.5 overs.
Naeem Islam was star of the show at Old School Lane, where Birkenhead Park beat Burscough by eight wickets. Michael Bimpson’s 38 not out was the major contribution to the home side’s 150 all out but Islam followed his 4-42 with 72 not out and that innings, combined with Dan Jordan’s 66, all but saw Park home.
The game between Fleetwood Hesketh and Prestatyn was drawn, the visitors replying to the Sea Cop side’s 178-9 declared with 150-9 in 50 overs.