BY SNOW SHOW
NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS opened up some ground at the top of Division One with a 62-run win at St Helens Town.
From 124/7, some crucial late-order runs lifted the visitors to 193/8; similarly, the hosts rallies from 70/8 but still fell well short, with Zac Donohue claiming four wickets on his first appearance after joining from Leigh.
Ainsdale’s sporting declaration on 181/8 from 49 overs, after Mark Lucas’s 52, backfired at Northop Hall as the hosts knocked off the runs in double time, losing only four wickets.
Third-placed Rainford stayed in touch with the top two by winning by 67 runs against Birkenhead Park. Matthew Bailey’s 47 was the mainstay of the hosts’ 219, as Satyajeet Bachhav took 6/70; the gig was up as soon as Park slipped from 57/1 to 86/7.
Liverpool’s Liam Naylor finished unbeaten on 119 – his second century of the season – to help his side chase 189 for a five-wicket win over Fleetwood Hesketh, for whom Dean Skelton had struck his maiden first XI ton.
Former front-runners Highfield have slipped to fourth – they set 176 at Colwyn Bay thanks to Michael Farrell’s 52, but Bay knocked off the runs with three to spare thanks to Vishal Kushwah’s 79.
Lytham earned a sevenwicket win at Old Xaverians thanks to Tom Myerscough’s 5/22, which restricted the hosts to 126, followed by Guy Roberts’ unbeaten 51.
CAM Lawrenson’s unbeaten
74 was the crucial innings in Maghull’s 29-run win over Wavertree – it helped his side from 119/7 to 229 all out, before Lawrenson wrapped up the
win himself with 5/54.
Alder’s stand-in skipper Josh Abley hit 95, aided by Greg Harvey’s unbeaten 77, to set
up a total of 233/4 at Norley Hall.
It proved too much for the league’s bottom side.
Sutton’s Joe Smith (91) and Jack York (71) put on 121 for
the first wicket against Parkfield Liscard, part of an imposing 268/8; the Wirral hosts made it to 69/0 before fading fast.
Prestatyn chased 252 to beat Hightown St Mary’s, with to 67 from Sampath Perera and 60 from Sheil Sethi.