Gerry Wolstenholme
St Annes failed to take advantage of Netherfield's free date when they lost a low scoring contest at Darwen and missed the opportunity of going to the top of the table. Elsewhere there were wins for Darwen, Morecambe, who did overtake Netherfield to go into first place, Preston, Leyland and Barrow.
Carnforth were bowled out for 93 against Morecambe with Atiq Uz Zaman making a top score of 19 with Richard Forsythe 17 not out, Lyndell Richardson 16,Robert Parker 14 and Adam Hornby 12 as Gareth Pedder and Graham Lee took three wickets each, for 30 and 26 runs respectively, and Jono Gates and Werner Coetsee took two each, for 32 and for five runs respectively. Morecambe picked up 12 points by scoring 97-3 for a seven-wicket win with Vishnal Goyal making 37 not out, Coetsee 19, Mark Lomas 14 as Parker took 3-42.
St Annes lost by 16 runs at Darwen where the home side made just 107 with Mark Emery top scoring with 29, Mark Bennett making 16, Chris Lowe 14 and Atif Ashraf 10 as substitute professional Saeed Anwar junior bowled unchanged to take 7-62 with Ian Austin taking 2-7. In reply St Annes could muster only 91 to which Austin contributed 28, Aiden Cotton 23 and Anwar 19 as Gareth Cordingley wrapped the game up with 4-12. Ashraf took 3-23 and Keith Semple 2-14.
At Stanley Park Preston made 180-8 thanks to 58 from Paul Mann, 33 from Bilal Asad and 31 from Munaf Bavla as Luke Melville had career-best figures of 4-18 and Justin Kreusch had 3-66. Blackpool could not make any impression on the target and were all out for 127 to lose by 53 runs as Richard Gleeson at number 10 made a top score of 28, Luis Reece made 23, Adam Parker 21 and Alex Smith 15. For Preston Asad took 4-56, Bavla 3-17 and Lukman Vahaluwala 3-52.
In a high scoring game at Broadwater Fleetwood made 221 with 78 not out from John Whalley, 54 from Nick Coultas and 33 from Kyle Smit. Barrow skipper Ian Allington had his best day yet with the ball as he took 5-22. Barrow replied with 222-6 to win by four wickets as Pasan Wanasinghe almost single-handedly kept them on course as he scored a magnificent 132. Tod Bamber, 22, and Daryl Wearing, a rapid 22 not out, were his main cohorts but mention must be made to a valuable eight not out by Rob Lightfoot as Tom Blundell and Smit both took two wickets, for 49 and 73 respectively.
Lancaster were bowled out for 109 by Kendal as Chris Miller took 5-46 and Kevin Howarth 4-22 as Montcin Hodge made 36, Jannisar Khan 26 and Tim Barry 17. Kendal then won by seven wickets with 114-3 as Ikram Ullah made 26, Tony Yasin 37 and Terry Hunte, a welcome return to form, 40 not out.
Chorley made a respectable 191-9 against Leyland but it was not enough as the latter won comfortably by eight wickets with 196-2. Guarav Dhar led the way for Chorley with 62 as Jack Catterall made 25 and Paul Hughes 24. David Makinson took 3-59, Alan Richardson 2-31 and Steve Pallett 2-65 for Leyland who then had Chris Parkinson, 89, Karl Cross, 58, and Ameer Khan 33 not out to thank for the victory.
First Division scores in brief (home sides in bold):
Preston 180-8 (Mann 58, Melville 4-18), Blackpool 127 (Asad 4-56)
Preston 15 points, Blackpool 2 points
Chorley 191-9 (Dhar 62), Leyland 196-2 (Parkinson 89, Cross 58)
Chorley 3 points, Leyland 12 points
Darwen 107 (Anwar 7-62), St Annes 91 (Cordingley 4-12)
Darwen 15 points, St Annes 3 points
Fleetwood 221 (Whalley 78*, Coultas 54, Allington 5-22), Barrow 222-6 (Wanasinghe 132)
Fleetwood 4 points, Barrow 12 points
Lancaster 109 (Miller 5-46, Howarth 4-22), Kendal 113-3 (Hunte 40*)
Lancaster 0 points, Kendal 12 points
Carnforth 93, Morecambe 97-3
Carnforth 0 points, Morecambe 12 points
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Morecambe |
18 |
1 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
25 |
146 |
| Netherfield |
17 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
15 |
142 |
| St Annes |
17 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
40 |
139 |
| Darwen |
18 |
1 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
20 |
141 |
| Kendal |
18 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
17 |
131 |
| Leyland |
18 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
7 |
3 |
21 |
127 |
| Preston |
17 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
7 |
2 |
31 |
126 |
| Barrow |
18 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
30 |
120 |
| Lancaster |
17 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
2 |
27 |
103 |
| Fleetwood |
17 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
20 |
104 |
| CARNFORTH |
18 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
3 |
33* |
95 |
| Chorley |
17 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
5 |
26 |
90 |
| BLACKPOOL |
18 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
10 |
2 |
39* |
78 |
Teams in BLOCK CAPITALS have had points deducted,
* 2 points deducted for slow over rate from the Bonus Points Column
Neil Bradley of St Annes took the batting honours on Sunday with an innings of 90 in the draw with Darwen. Adam Taylor also made hay while the sun shone with 79 as St Annes reached 229-5. Asrar Mulla replied for Darwen with 85 out of Darwen's 180-7 in the drawn game.
Stephen Cartwright of Leyland took 7-47 as Chorley were bowled out for 101 to suffer defeat by 74 runs at Fox Lane and William Riley of Lancaster had a six-wicket haul, 6-26, as Kendal were restricted to 132-9 to which Lancaster replied with 133-8 for a two-wicket win.
Second Division scores in brief (home sides in bold):
Fleetwood 167-9 (Emsley 55), Barrow 168-7 (Mowat 41*, Gregson 4-34)
Fleetwood 4 points, Barrow 12 points
Carnforth 173-9 (Preston 55, Quinn 6-65), Morecambe 179-6 (Maje 78, Bradley 4-47)
Carnforth 3 points, Morecambe 12 points
Kendal 132-9 (Long 54, Riley 6-26), Lancaster 133-8
Kendal 2 points, Lancaster 12 points
Leyland 175-8 (Woolard 63, Parker 40), Chorley 101 (Cartwright 7-47)
Leyland 15 points, Chorley 2 points
Blackpool 157-8 (Reddy 53, Starkie 5-43), Preston 158-8 (Jefferies 45)
Blackpool 3 points, Preston 12 points
St Annes 229-5 (Bradley 90, Taylor, Adam 79), Darwen 180-7 (Mulla 85)
St Annes 9 points, Darwen 5 points
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Lancaster |
17 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
167 |
| Morecambe |
18 |
3 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
27 |
161 |
| Netherfield |
17 |
2 |
8 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
156 |
| St Annes |
17 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
32 |
130 |
| Darwen |
18 |
2 |
4 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
28 |
129 |
| Chorley |
17 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
31 |
127 |
| Blackpool |
18 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
35 |
122 |
| Barrow |
18 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
29 |
121 |
| Leyland |
18 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
4 |
26 |
117 |
| Preston |
17 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
4 |
20 |
99 |
| Kendal |
18 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
8 |
4 |
19 |
89 |
| Carnforth |
18 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
3 |
37 |
85 |
| Fleetwood |
17 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
10 |
3 |
21 |
79 |
MATCH ACTION
THE TWO 'Ws' - WANASINGHE AND WEARING -
WIN IT FOR BARROW
Fleetwood 221, Barrow 222-6
By Gerry Wolstenholme
In the 1950s and 1960s the three 'Ws' were spoken of in revered terms for the West Indies but on 6 August 2007 it was the two 'Ws', with a little help from an 'A', who were the matchwinners for Barrow at Broadwater. Pasan Wanasinghe made a superb 132 to set up Barrow's win and Daryl Wearing sealed it with two monumental sixes to seal the victory. Fleetwood had made 221 when at one time they looked as though they would easily reach 260 or 270 and then Barrow's chase looked as though it might fall short until a late assault saw them to 222-6 and victory by four wickets with seven balls of the contest remaining.
Fleetwood won the toss and decided to bat, a decision that looked a very good one as openers Nick Coultas and Kyle Smit put the Barrow bowlers to the sword. It was the former who did most of the early damage with some sweet, clean hitting, particularly off the off-spin of Ryan Astle. Coultas blasted nine fours and two sixes from 47 balls before, on 54, he chanced a run to deepish mid-on. Astle fielded and his throw just clipped the stumps with Coultas short of his ground and that was 96-1.
By then Smit had become becalmed and was stuck on 32. Adam Sharrocks joined him but he only made a couple before he edged Astle to wicketkeeper Danny Myles and that was 98-2. The third wicket to fall was that of Smit, frustrated at being tied down, he used his feet to Astle only to be beaten in the air and ended up driving a catch straight back to the bowler. He had gone for 33 at 107-3.
John Whalley took on the mantle left by Coultas and he struck some huge blows and with James Ellis put on 55 for the fourth wicket. When the total had reached 162 skipper Ian Allington had introduced himself into the attack and it was he who made the breakthrough by trapping Ellis leg before wicket for 15. Four runs later he had Chris Stanhope similarly trapped and then he had Wayne Clarke caught by Tod Bamber at mid-wicket from his first ball and Fleetwood were somewhat in disarray at 166-6.
Allington continued his tidy wicket-to-wicket bowling and was rewarded with the wickets of Tom Wilson, caught by Iain Kermode at mid-off for five, and Steve Hill, bowled for four, the wickets falling at 180 and 188. In between, with the total on 181, Daryl Wearing had returned to the attack and had Adam Breakell caught by a leaping Bamber at mid-off after a ball shot up at the batsman off a good length. Allington at this point was looking as though he might emulate his son who had recently taken 6-9 and had 5-9 (and I believe Allington junior promised his Dad �5 if he could achieve the same return as he had done! - Good job the figures weren't equalled for there is only one professional allowed in each side!)
However Tom Blundell proved more resilient that those who came before and with Whalley he put on 33 for the last wicket. Wanasinghe ended all the frolics by bowling Blundell for 16 from 23 balls with three fours, which left Whalley undefeated with 78 made from 95 balls with eight fours and two sixes. Fleetwood's innings ended after 48.4 overs for 221 and Allington had his first ever Northern Premier League five-wicket haul, 5-22, while Astle had 2-65, Wearing 1-48 and Wanasinghe 1-56.
The Barrow reply began steadily enough and John McMenemy and Kermode put on 25 before both fell at the same total. Both were caught behind by Ellis, McMenemy for nine off Hill and Kermode for 16 off Blundell. This brought Wanasinghe and Bamber together and they rebuilt the Barrow innings by putting on 67 for the third wicket with the professional doing the bulk of the scoring. He played some fine drives and was particularly strong off his legs and Hill strayed there very much to his liking. Smit broke the partnership at 92 when he had Bamber, 22, caught by Clarke before Barrow lost two cheap wickets. Paul Wilcock, one, was run out when Sharrocks with one stump to aim at hit it from backward point and Allington made a slight misjudgement as he allowed one from Smit to go only to find it had bowled him for nought. Those two wickets fell at 121 and 122.
Then came the crucial partnership of the innings and nothing can be taken away from Rob Lightfoot who contributed three to the 73 runs that he and Wanasinghe put on. The professional farmed the bowling to perfection, so much so that at one point Lightfoot went five overs without receiving a ball. And Wanasinghe was not just taking singles, for he sometimes picked up 11 off an over, driving a six down the ground, cutting a four and then strolling a single from the final ball, all of which meant that Barrow were bearing down on the Fleetwood total.
When Wanasinghe had reached 132 (and passed 800 runs for the season) he chopped a ball from Blundell onto his stumps and was gone with the total at 195-6. His innings was an absolute treat, had delighted the crowd and had come from 155 balls and contained 17 fours and six sixes. But there was still a lot of work to be done. However, cometh the hour, cometh the man and Wearing stepped up to do Barrow proud.
Lightfoot struck a boundary to ease the pressure but in 13 balls Wearing made 22 not out including driving the final two balls he received straight down the ground for sixes, which gave Barrow the four-wicket victory at 222-6. Lightfoot finished with the most valuable eight not out that he is ever likely to score, made from 25 balls and he had been at the crease while 100 runs had been scored. And the final hero Daryl Wearing commented with a huge grin, "It was never in doubt!" For Fleetwood, Blundell's 2-49 was the best bowling while Hill went for 71 from his 11 overs and one wicket and Smit for 73 for his two wickets. Breakell escaped much of the mayhem and took 1-23.
