No Ashes magic from Pratt as Kirk in semis
ON THE day England hailed the Ashes heroics of a Durham player, Ormskirk overcame one from the past to reach the semi-finals of the ECB National Club Championship.
Up against Richmondshire CC, captained by Gary Pratt – yes, THE Gary Pratt, famed for his stunning run-out of Ricky Ponting in 2005 – Nicky Caunce’s men piled on 194 from their 40 overs, thanks largely to Gary Knight’s unbeaten 79.
And despite Pratt’s 73, Caunce’s bowlers made regular breakthroughs to expose the tail, and the hosts closed on 183/9.
Ormskirk will travel to Nantwich next Sunday, with Swardeston or Ealing waiting in the final.
A day earlier, they’d held on to draw their heavyweight league clash with Northern – but saw their chances of winning the Liverpool Gin Liverpool Competition slip further away.
Taylor Cornall’s 60 set up the hosts’ total of 183/7, from almost 60 overs – in reply, it took a steadfast 42* from Knight to hold the bowlers at bay, with just enough support from the tail as Ormskirk closed on 156/9.
Leaders Firwood Bootle kept up their stellar form, with Will Hale’s unbeaten 103 leading them to an eight-wicket win at Colwyn Bay. Keith Barker’s 5/55 had helped dismiss the hosts for 180, despite a 135-run stand between Saliya Jeewantha (63) and Michael Littler (65).
Formby defended 129 to record a Bootle 18 13 Ormskirk 18 10 Northern 18 7 New Brighton 17 7 Formby 18 7 Orrell Red Triangle 18 5 Wallasey 17 6 Rainhill 18 5 Leigh 18 3 Southport & Birkdale 18 3 Lytham 18 1 Colwyn Bay 18 2 0 1 4 1 3 4 2 5 3 4 3 2 3 5 2 2 6 4 3 4 4 0 6 3 4 7 3 1 11 2 2 10 2 4 8 3 0 13 40 333 0 41 25 286 0 14 59 233 0 19 38 232 0 38 31 224 0 31 25 200 0 23 31 194 0 18 14 152 0 31 37 148 0 14 41 130 0 18 37 120 0 29 28 117 37-run win at Lytham, thanks to 8/30 from David Atkinson.
Matty McKiernan hit 84 and Paul Farrar 52 as Leigh posted 179 against Orrell Red Triangle; the visitors came close to forcing a win, but finished on 164/7.
Finally, in a relegation nail-biter, Southport & Birkdale collapsed from 120/3 to 139 all out, losing by eight runs to Rainhill. Qaiser Ashraf did the bulk of the damage with 6/46; earlier, S&B skipper Chris Firth had taken 5/46.