By Michael Latham
Leyland reeled off their third successive 15-point win and continue to set the pace at the top. They owed much to a fine all-round performance from Pakistani professional Ameer Khan as they again defended a modest total.
Ameer Khan followed up his fine 56 not out which bolstered Leyland's 145 for 8 and included three successive sixes with an inspired display of leg-spin, taking 6 for 31 as Fleetwood were dismissed for 90 at Fox Lane. Andrew Makinson continued his fine early season form with three wickets for the leaders.
Carnforth are second after their second win in a row, this time a convincing 15-point success over Darwen. Ryan Bailey stepped off the plane from South Africa to mark his debut as club professional with a fine innings of 89 and skipper Adam Hornby weighed in with an innings of 48 that included four sixes and five fours.
Despite professional Atif Ashraf hitting 65 (including two sixes and eleven fours) Darwen fell well short as John Denwood's off-spin accounted for three wickets in four balls. Former Morecambe left-arm spinner Warren Quinn collected four wickets on his Carnforth debut.
John Denwood took 3 wickets in 4 balls |
Blackpool are joint third with Kendal after both sides successfully chased down targets. Blackpool had a tense three-wicket win at Preston, Craig Outram's calm innings of 20 not out seeing them home despite Preston professional Bilal Asad returning four for 35. Preston had been routed for just 94, Richard Gleeson the pick of the Blackpool bowlers with three for 24.
Kendal skipper Ikram Ullah steered his side to 12 points with a fine innings of 73 with good support from Terry Hunte (27) and professional Ross McMillan (35). Kendal got home with just an over to spare. Lancaster's 181 for 8 featured a superb innings of 89 from Tim Barry before he was run out with McMillan collecting three wickets.
Terry Hunte in typical action (photo by David Sykes) |
Tim Barry top scored for Lancaster (photo by David Sykes) |
Chorley's new South African professional Friedel de Wet enjoyed a winning start in a tense finish at Windsor Park. Netherfield were bowled out for just 87 with de Wet taking 6 for 39 including the wicket of the visitors new captain Chris Parry for a duck. But outgoing Netherfield captain Scott Clement bowled superbly, taking 4 for 10 off 16 overs as Chorley scrambled to a one-victory thanks to veteran Rex Purnell's 22 not out after coming in at no9. Chorley took 55.3 overs to amass the 88 winning total.
Finally Morecambe's second win in two games featured a fine unbeaten half-century from former captain Phil Thornton. Barrow had struggled to 120 for 8 despite Pasan Wanasinghe's unbeaten half-century. But the Sri Lankan professional then took three quick wickets before a decisive fourth-wicket partnership between Thornton and Kiwi professional Bruce Martin (36) saw Morecambe home.
Pasan Wanasinghe had a fine all round game for Barrow |
RESULTS
FIRST DIVISION
Carnforth v Darwen
Carnforth (15pts) defeated Darwen (3pts) by 76 runs
Carnforth 225 for 8 (R Bailey 89, A Hornby 48), Darwen 149 (Atif Ashraf 65, W Quinn 4 for 36, J Denwood 3 for 19, A Cowperthwaite 3 for 38)
Chorley v Netherfield
Chorley (12pts) defeated Netherfield (3pts) by 1 wicket
Netherfield 87 (F de Wet 6 for 39), Chorley 88 for 9 (S Clement 4 for 10)
Leyland v Fleetwood
Leyland (15pts) defeated Fleetwood (2pts) by 55 runs
Leyland 145 for 8 (Ameer Khan 56 not out, N Rupasinghe 5 for 40), Fleetwood 90 (Ameer Khan 6 for 31)
Kendal v Lancaster
Kendal (12pts) defeated Lancaster (4pts) by 5 wickets
Lancaster 181 for 8 (T Barry 89, R McMillan 3 for 42), Kendal 185 for 5 (Ikram Ullah 73)
Morecambe v Barrow
Morecambe (12pts) defeated Barrow (0pts) by 6 wickets
Barrow 120 for 8 (P Wanasinghe 63 not out), Morecambe 121 for 4 (P Thornton 52 not out, P Wanasinghe 4 for 39)
Preston v Blackpool
Blackpool (12pts) defeated Preston (2pts) by 3 wickets
Preston 94 (R Gleeson 3 for 24), Blackpool 97 for 7 (Bilal Asad 4 for 35)
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Leyland |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
45 |
| Carnforth |
3 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
32 |
| Kendal |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
| Blackpool |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
27 |
| Morecambe |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
24 |
| St Annes |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
21 |
| Lancaster |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
21 |
| Chorley |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
16 |
| Darwen |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
15 |
| Barrow |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
9 |
13 |
| Netherfield |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
7 |
| Preston |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
| Fleetwood |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
SECOND DIVISION
Barrow v Morecambe
Morecambe (12pts) defeated Barrow (4pts) by 2 wickets
Barrow 172 for 8, Morecambe 174 for 8 (R Smith 51, G Kermode 3 for 33)
Blackpool v Preston
Blackpool (12pts) defeated Preston (0pts) by 8 wickets
Preston 104 (J Winter 48, J Hogarth 5 for 27), Blackpool 106 for 2
Darwen v Carnforth
Darwen (12pts) defeated Carnforth (0pts) by 7 wickets
Carnforth 79 (C Davies 6 for 21), Darwen 81 for 3
Fleetwood v Leyland
Fleetwood (12pts) defeated Leyland (4pts) by 3 wickets
Leyland 178 for 7 (S Cartwright 45 not out, J Latus 3 for 38), Fleetwood 181 for 7 (M Emsley 124 not out, T Coxhead 3 for 32, M Cottom 3 for 35)
Lancaster v Kendal
Lancaster (12pts) defeated Kendal (1pt) by 5 wickets
Kendal 80 (R Childs 4 for 24, P Sparrow 3 for 15), Lancaster 81 for 5 (A Potts 3 for 17)
Netherfield v Chorley
Chorley (12pts) defeated Netherfield (1pt) by 4 wickets
Netherfield 99 (R Demming 7 for 14), Chorley 101 for 6 (T Barton 4 for 26)
3D SPORTS NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Chorley |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
| Blackpool |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
30 |
| Lancaster |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
29 |
| Morecambe |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
| Leyland |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
7 |
22 |
| St Annes |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
20 |
| Barrow |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
4 |
19 |
| Darwen |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
18 |
| Fleetwood |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
18 |
| Netherfield |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
17 |
| Kendal |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
| Preston |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
| Carnforth |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Michael Latham's Match of the Day
Morecambe v Barrow
Wanasinghe's patient innings bolters Barrow
Morecambe underlined their title challenge with a convincing six-wicket victory over Barrow at Woodhill Lane, eventually cruising to a modest victory target of only 121.
Barrow will be disappointed to go away from a game in which they competed well without a single bonus point to show for their efforts but their disappointing batting display on a slow, seaming wicket proved their undoing.
Mark Lomas, the Morecambe captain, invited Barrow to bat after winning the toss and the visitors made a disastrous start.
Cumberland batsman Darren Clark was deceived by Gareth Pedder's slower ball and was caught and bowled for a duck before teenaged opener Jon Miles was caught behind off Pedder to leave the visitors struggling at 7 for 2 in the fifth over.
Gareth Pedder celebrates the wicket of Jon Miles |
It might have been worse for Barrow had professional Pasan Wanasinghe not been dropped in the slips by Lomas off Pedder in the seventh over but it was a very difficult chance to one of the best slip fielders in the league.
Pasan Wanasinghe survives a sharp slip chance |
Wanasinghe went on to bat through the rest of the innings and barely looked in trouble after that let-off, though he did survive a stumping appeal after good work by Damian Gudgeon from Graham Lee's bowling
But while the Sri Lankan looked a class batsman he never looked to dominate the bowling or put pressure on the field by looking for sharp singles and so Morecambe were rarely troubled as the innings ambled along.
Iain Kermode and Ian Allington never got on top of the bowling despite long stays at the crease, the former falling LBW to Jono Gates for 15 and the latter perishing bowled by Morecambe professional Bruce Martin for 22.
Iain Kermode keeps out a sharp Jono Gates delivery |
Morecambe's four-pronged bowling attack looked impressive with Pedder bowling a good early spell and Gates reeling off 12 overs that deserved more than his one wicket haul.
Left-armers Lee and Martin then bowled for the second half of the innings and each picked up a couple of wickets apiece, Lee finishing with 2 for 45 off 17 overs and Martin 2 for 29 off 13.
Wanasinghe reached his half century in the closing stages and batted through to finish unbeaten on 63 in his side's disappointing total of 120 for 8. The Sri Lankan was soon in action again with the ball, troubling the early Morecambe batsmen with his movement off the seam.
Wanasinghe had Vishal Goyal caught behind off the first ball of the innings, bowled Mark Woodhead for 6 and then saw Lomas play-on for 4 to leave Morecambe struggling at 20 for 3.
But former Morecambe skipper Phil Thornton survived the early carnage and in partnership with Martin settled the ship.
The pair's fourth wicket partnership of 76 took Morecambe safely towards their victory target until Martin was caught behind for 36 to become Wanasinghe's fourth victim.
But Thornton, who batted impressively throughout, and Phil Dennison steered Morecambe home with nearly 20 overs to spare.Thornton reached a well deserved half-century just before the close and finished 52 not out
Phil Thornton's unbeaten 52 saw Morecambe home |
