Holders Chorley reach Division 2 Readers Cup semi-final
Pieter Malan hit a superb century in vain for Barrow |
Netherfield beat a depleted Barrow side by just five runs in a thrilling Readers Cup quarter-final tie at Parkside Road to set up a semi-final at home to Leyland.
For the second week running Barrow's prolific South African pro Pieter Malan hit a magnificent century only to finish on the losing side.
Last week Malan hit 139 in his side's Lancashire Cup defeat at the hands of Rochdale; he followed up with 114 off 124 balls as Barrow chased Netherfield's daunting 236/8.
But Malan was bowled by Stuart Dixon with victory in sight; he had added 119 for the third wicket with Iain Kermode who made 66 off only 52 balls along the way.
Barrow, without Liam Livingstone and Graham Dawson on county duty closed on 231/6.
John Mason proved to be Netherfield's key player. The former Cumberland county all-rounder hit 57 off 45 balls and then took 2/18 off his eight overs. Ben Haddrick (53) and John Huck (48) were the other main contributors towards Netherfield's total as they made up for the loss of Alex Atkinson on Cumberland duty.
John Mason was Netherfield's all-round hero against Barrow |
Daryl Wearing took 4/32 for Barrow and Club Chairman Ray Mowat came out of retirement to take 3/47.
Leyland reached the last four after beating Blackpool at Fox Lane by five wickets with 34 balls in hand.
Blackpool pro Con De Lange hit five sixes in making 77 off 78 balls while opener John Mounsey hit 54 off 76 balls in their side's 193/7. Brett Pelser, the Leyland pro took 4/44 and skipper David Makinson bowled his eight overs to take one for eleven.
Leyland openers Luis Reece and Henry Thompson set up their side's victory with an opening stand of 91 in 9.1 overs. Thompson hit 44 off only 31 balls while Reece made 58 off 87 balls.
Luis Reece steered Leyland through to the last four |
In the other semi-final Kendal will be at home to St Annes.
Kendal defeated Chorley by 98 runs at Shap Road after pro Jamie How (56) and Terry Hunte (79) provided the backbone of their 220/4. How faced only 37 balls and hit nine fours and one six; league legend Hunte made his runs off 80 balls and hit nine fours and one six.
Jamie How blasted Kendal into the semi-finals |
After an opening stand of 67 between skipper Andy Holdsworth and Stu Naden, Chorley lost their last ten wickets for only 55 runs as they collapsed to 122 all out.
Jack White took 3/24 with Nick Lewthwaite, skipper Chris Miller and How each taking two wickets.
St Annes got home by six wickets with 23 balls to spare against the Colts at Vernon Road. Lewis Jackson hit 63 and skipper Jason Swift an unbeaten 32 off 23 balls in the Colts' 189/9, St Annes pro Dinuka Hettiarachchi taking 3/27.
Atiq Uz-Zaman hit 48, teenaged Nanthesh Kiruparan made 50 and Neil Bradley an unbeaten 33 in St Annes' reply.
In Division Two holders Chorley beat Kendal at Windsor Park. Kendal skipper Paul Dodds batted throughout his side's 158/8 to hit an unbeaten 67. Chorley skipper Ian Mawdesley saw his side home by seven wickets with an unbeaten 62.
Leyland beat Blackpool by 63 runs at Stanley Park after openers Ian Dickinson (58) and Wes Royle (60) posted an opening stand of 121. Ross Parker took 3/32. Despite a fighting 36 from Nick Wall Blackpool were all out for 132, Stephen Cartwright taking 3/18 and Monty Cottam 2/18.
Barrow beat Preston by 23 runs at Ernest Pass despite collapsing from 88/2 to 107 all out as Andrew Starkie took 4/15. Preston were 84 all out in reply, Matt Studt taking 3/24 and Matthew Wall 3/12.
In the semi-finals Leyland will be at home to Barrow and the winners of next Sunday's Fleetwood/St Annes tie are at home to Chorley. The semi-finals will be played on Sunday 7 August.
Elsewhere Darwen suffered heartbreak as their ECB National Club Championship Group 6 Regional Final at Prestwich was abandoned.
Prestwich moved into the last 16 by virtue of winning a bowl-out.
The League now has no sides remaining in either the Lancashire Cup or National Club Championship.
In the Minor Counties Championship game at Sedbergh School Bedfordshire made 288 in their first innings on day one of three. Cumberland were 61/3 in reply at the close, Barrow's Liam Livingstone and Ikram Ullah (Morecambe) the not out batsmen.
Readers Cup Second Round
Division One
Leyland v Blackpool
Leyland won by 5 wickets
Blackpool 193 - 7 (C De Lange 77, J Mounsey 54, B Pelser 4/44) Leyland 194 - 5 (L Reece 58, H Thompson 44)
Kendal v Chorley
Kendal won by 98 runs
Kendal 220 - 4 (T Hunte 79, J How 56), Chorley 122
Netherfield v Barrow
Netherfield won by 5 runs
Netherfield 236 - 8 (J Mason 57, B Haddrick 53, J Huck 48, D Wearing 4/32), Barrow 231 - 6 (P Malan 114, I Kermode 66)
St Annes v Lancashire Colts
St Annes won by 6 wickets
Lancashire Colts 189 - 9 (L Jackson 63), St Annes 193 - 4 (N Kiruparan 50, Atiq Uz-Zaman 48)
Division Two
Barrow v Preston
Barrow won by 23 runs
Barrow 107 (A Starkie 4/15), Preston 84
Blackpool v Leyland
Leyland won by 63 runs
Leyland 195 - 5 (W Royle 60, I Dickinson 58), Blackpool 132
Chorley v Kendal
Chorley won by 7 wickets
Kendal 158 - 6 (P Dodds 67no), Chorley 161 -3 (I Mawdesley 62no)
