Ormskirk’s Hartley puts High in a jam
0 12 18 170 0 16 26 162 0 24 12 156 0 17 11 153 0 19 19 118 0 13 12 110 0 9 14 103 0 15 23 98 0 17 17 74 0 27 20 67 0 20 22 67 0 10 18 33 0 20 19 179 0 23 10 173 0 14 23 117 0 15 12 112 0 7 21 108 0 7 26 98 0 8 26 94 0 8 20 93 0 5 21 91 0 13 14 72 0 7 34 61 0 11 17 53 0 24 12 156 0 9 19 148 1 13 6 139 0 15 17 132 1 22 19 116 0 11 30 101 0 19 14 97 0 5 13 88 0 4 16 70 0 16 21 47 0 9 20 29 IT WAS Ormskirk’s day in the Liverpool Gin Liverpool Competition Premier Division as the defending champions moved into third spot with a five-wicket win over Highfield.
Nicky Caunce’s men had to dance between the raindrops but they pulled it off, snatching victory with just two balls to spare, after dismissing the visitors for 150 either side of a rain delay.
Two 19-year-olds, Tom Hartley and Alex Rankin, starred in the 25-over chase, putting on 63 for the third wicket. Hartley was eventually dismissed 20 short of the finish line, for 58 – after taking 4-29 with the ball.
And it’s the progress of his youngsters that’s most pleasing for Caunce, as his side’s title defence gathers pace following an iffy start to their 2018 cam- paign. He said: “I put Tom in at three to bat aggressively and try to get ahead of the game; Alex expressed himself really well too. For two 19-year-olds to knock the runs off, they did really well.
“At the start of the season, the expectations were high, and other teams look at you and expect to win most games.
“But we’ve got a very young side – we’ve lost quite a few players from last year, we’ve lost a bit of experience and replaced it with 19-year-olds.”
After former Lancashire seamer Gavin Griffiths marked his return to the side with three early wickets, Caunce was quick to rotate his bowlers, something he believes is crucial at this level.
“It’s good to see what the bowlers are doing – not everyone is going to have a good day every week, so it’s good to have that variety,” he said.
“If you’re expecting the same bowlers to get the wickets every week, it just doesn’t happen.”
Ormskirk leapfrogged Bootle, whose much-anticipated game at Formby was ruined by the rain that hit the region on Saturday. William Purser hit a brisk 58 to lift the visitors to 191-8, but Formby closed on 66-2 after the 19 overs that were playable.
Northern remain top, despite losing at Lytham, where skipper Ben Saunders sealed a 78-run win by taking 5-34, ably backed up by Joshua Holden’s 4-17. Ex-Lancashire skipper Steven Croft’s 78 had been the mainstay of the hosts’ total of 175.
Colwyn Bay’s Adam Campion hit 107 to set up a mammoth total of 269-5 against bottom side New Brighton. However, with a few crucial overs lost to rain, the Wirral men were able to bat to the end, and closed on 128-7.
Rainhill’s Akshay Darekar took his fifth five-wicket haul in nine games this season to limit Rainford to 105. Tyler McGladdery’s unbeaten 57 then made sure of a seven-wicket win for the hosts.
Closest finish of the day came at Wallasey, where Leigh’s last-wicket pair of Lewis Bailey and Alex Seddon put on 30 to overhaul the hosts’ 160-8 with just one wicket to spare.