Skem thrilled with win but survival remains unlikely
HIGHFIELD will be playing Premier League cricket next season and Rainford need only four points to be sure of joining them.
The pair will battle for the First Division title over the next fortnight but Highfield’s return to the top division of the Liverpool Gin Liverpool Competition was confirmed when they beat Sefton Park by six runs in a thrilling match on Saturday.
Batting first, Highfield managed only 160 in 53.4 overs, Madduma Lakmal making 35 and Mark Chappell taking 3-16. Shakeel Clarke’s 30 kept the home side in the hunt for what would have been a vital victory but Lakmal chipped in with 5-43 as Sefton Park finished on 154 all out in 52 overs.
Rainford’s three-wicket win against Wigan all but ended Sefton Park’s hopes of promotion. John Dotters took 7-30 in 16.3 overs as Wigan were dismissed for 154 before openers Matthew Bailey and Paul Farrar made 38 apiece as Rainford reached their target in 49.5 overs.
At the bottom of the table Skelmersdale secured their fourth win of the season at home to Hightown St Mary’s but their hopes of avoiding relegation remain slight. Not that such a predicament diminished the joy of Matthew Fenney and Ian Girvin on Saturday evening after the pair had added 24 to seal a onewicket victory.
Skem had only needed 115 but Leo McCarthy and Matty White’s threewicket hauls made that job all the trickier.
Earlier Fenney had taken 3-28 and Jack Maddocks 4-43 in the Hightown St Mary’s innings, John Baybut making a useful 47 not out for the visitors.
Despite drawing their game at Prestatyn, Fleetwood Hesketh are 29 points clear of relegation and should be playing First Division cricket next summer.
Neil Rimmer made 89 and Lee Bolton added 81 not out in the Sea Cop side’s 235-6 declared and Prestatyn replied with 223-9, Gareth Leonard weighing in with 65.
There was a thrilling late-season game at Winstanley Road where Siddiq Patel’s 4-53 and Gareth Houghton’s 3-19 conjured a one-wicket victory for Orrell Red Triangle over Newton-leWillows. Richard Everett had topscored with 77 in the home team’s 190 all out but Joel Murnan’s 6-55 had kept Newton well in the game and Muhammad Iqbal’s 56 took them within 17 runs of the win. Brendan Domigan’s unbeaten 96 and Ben van Niekerk’s 6-48 secured a 36-run victory for Burscough at Birkenhead Park.