Netherfield gain ground with comprehensive win
John Huck hit 77no in Netherfield's emphatic win |
St Annes star Atiq Uz-Zaman grabbed his first career hat-trick and then hit an unbeaten century as his side maintained their 13-point lead over defending champions Leyland on a gloriously sunny afternoon.
The former Pakistan Test wicketkeeper even eclipsed pro Dinuka Hettiarachchi who had taken the first seven Fleetwood wickets to fall at Vernon Road.
Hettiarachchi took his seasonal tally to 72 wickets with a superb bowling display, taking 7/37 off 23 overs; though wicketkeeper Dean Bell long defied his spinning wiles to compile a high-class 65 of 95 balls. Bell's fine effort formed the cornerstone of Fleetwood's 157, off-spinner Atiq ending the innings by pinning captain Mat Clark leg before, bowling Kieran McGann and then seeing Tom Wilson caught in the deep by Ben Willis for 35.
Atiq then hit a superb unbeaten 102 off 109 balls including 19 fours to see St Annes home by eight wickets. His third league century of the season saw him pass 800 runs for the campaign and teenager Nathan Bolus, who made an unbeaten 42 off 91 balls helped him add 123 in an unbroken third wicket stand.
Leyland's game at Woodhill Lane was a thrilling, low-scoring affair; the defending champions recovered from 69/7 chasing 135 to win by three wickets against Morecambe.
Pro Brett Pelser, who made an unbeaten 60 and Peter Cummings, who was undefeated on 21 were the Leyland heroes in a match-winning stand of 66. Morecambe's Pakistan A fast bowling professional Anwar Ali had wrecked the Leyland top order in a spell of 6/67, taking his seasonal tally to 54 wickets in an impressive debut season in the Northern League.
Earlier Luis Reece took 3/55 and Cummings 4/19 to reduce Morecambe to 93/9; but Alex Thistlethwaite and James Law combined to post 41 for the last wicket and give their side a competitive total.
St Annes (played 18-176pts) lead Leyland (17-163) by 13 points but David Makinson's side has a game in hand. Netherfield (18-158) gained ground by virtue of a comprehensive 15-points victory by 151 runs at Lodge Quarry against Carnforth.
Wicketkeeper John Huck hit a high-class unbeaten 77 off 92 balls in his side's 253/6, opener Marc Brown making a fluent 49. Off-spinner Dickon Morris took 3/52 and then provided the only sustained resistance with the bat as Carnforth subsided to a dismal 102 all out.
Stuart Nixon took 5/28 off eleven overs to wreck the top order, claiming the crucial wicket of opener Ryan Nelson who was adjudged caught behind down the leg-side. Morris batted superbly to make an unbeaten 55 off 63 balls with ten fours but Nathan Chambers and Marc Hadwin each took two wickets to polish off the tail.
Stuart Nixon was Netherfield's bowling hero |
There was a thrilling finish at Lune Road where Chorley (17-148) jumped above Morecambe (17-140) into fourth place with pro Gaurav Dhar the key man against Lancaster.
Will Moulton's 66 off 90 balls helped the visitors reach 177; he added 78 for the fifth wicket with Michael Critchley. Off-spinner Ben Simm bowled unchanged to take 5/77 with Charlie Swarbrick taking 3/32.
Lancaster captain Michael Stevens looked to have set his side on course for victory by compiling a classy 61 off 131 balls. Stevens and Lee Sparks (who made 33 off 23 balls) took their side from 118/5 to 166/5 and just 12 runs away from victory.
In an astonishing collapse Lancaster lost their last five wickets for no runs in five overs. Sparks was caught behind by Chorley captain Andy Holdsworth off Dhar before Stevens was caught by Billy Smith off Dhar attempting to sweep.
Simm was caught behind off Dhar, Swarbrick caught-and-bowled by Dhar and Iain Critchley then pinned Damian Gudgeon leg-before to earn Chorley a dramatic victory by eleven runs.
Chorley celebrate their dramatic win at Lancaster |
Dhar claimed 6/56 off 13 overs, taking his last four wickets in 12 balls without conceding a run. Critchley and Kieran McCullagh each claimed two wickets.
Pro Gaurav Dhar took six wickets in Chorley's win at Lune Road |
Barrow pro Pieter Malan hit his fifth league century of the summer and his eighth in all games for the club but the game at Birch Hall ended in a tense draw.
Malan finished unbeaten on 126 off 143 balls as Barrow closed 198/8, eleven runs short of victory.
The South African has now scored 996 league runs and has beaten Pasan Wanasinghe's club record in Northern League cricket; Callum Ferguson's all-time league record of 1,381 runs is within his sights.
Malan's innings, which included eleven fours and five sixes was described as being the best he had ever seen in league cricket by Darwen captain John Cordingley.
Earlier Gareth Cordingley hit 38 and Jordan Clarke 41 in Darwen's 208/9, Malan bowling eleven overs to take 4/45. Pro Zimmy Khan was run out by Liam Livingstone for 21 and Kamran Anwar made a valuable late order 26. Daryl Wearing took 3/53.
There was another thrilling drawn game at Stanley Park where Preston kept up their victory chase until the end. Lukman Vahaluwala's side closed on 194/9 in reply to Blackpool's 201/6.
Vahaluwala, who spent time in midweek bowling to the England Test batsmen at Loughborough as part of their preparations for the Second Test, trapped Lancashire batsman Steven Croft leg before a duck as Blackpool lost three early wickets.
South African pro Con De Lange spearheaded the recovery with a superb 119 not out off 146 balls, an innings that included 12 fours and two sixes. Andy Furniss (47) and Richard Gleeson (23) lent valuable support. Vahaluwala finished with 4/70 and has now taken 56 league wickets.
Mohsin Modhi hit 51 in Preston's reply but De Lange took 4/41 and Croft 3/39 as the visitors fell just short in a dramatic finish to a compelling game of fluctuating fortunes.
FIRST DIVISION SCORES
Blackpool v Preston
Blackpool (10pts) winning draw; Preston 5pts
Blackpool 201/6 (C De Lange 119no, A Furniss 47), Preston 194/9 (M Modhi 51, C De Lange 4/41)
Carnforth v Netherfield
Netherfield (15pts) defeated Carnforth (1pt) by 151 runs
Netherfield 253/6 (J Huck 77no, M Brown 49), Carnforth 102 (D Morris 55no, S Nixon 5/28)
Darwen v Barrow
Darwen (9pts) winning draw; Barrow 7pts
Darwen 208/9 (J Calrke 41, P Malan 4/45), Barrow 198/8 (P Malan 126no)
Lancaster v Chorley
Chorley (15pts) defeated Lancaster (5pts) by 11 runs
Chorley 177 (W Moulton 66,B Simm 5/77), Lancaster 166 (M Stevens 61, G Dhar 6/56)
Morecambe v Leyland
Leyland (12pts) defeated Morecambe (2pts) by 3 wickets
Morecambe 134 (P Cummings 4/19), Leyland 135/7 (B Pelser 60 no, Anwar Ali 6/67)
St Annes v Fleetwood
St Annes (12pts) defeated Fleetwood (1pt) by 9 wickets
Fleetwood 157 (D Bell 65, D Hettiarachchi 7/37, Atiq Uz-Zaman 3/28 incl hat-trick), St Annes 158/2 (Atiq Uz-Zaman 102no, N Bolus 42no)
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATIN READERS CRICKET
BALLS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division One
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| St Annes |
18 |
3 |
8 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
19 |
176 |
| Leyland |
17 |
1 |
9 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
26 |
163 |
| Netherfield |
18 |
4 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
20 |
158 |
| Chorley |
17 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
1 |
28 |
148 |
| Morecambe |
17 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
20** |
140 |
| Blackpool |
17 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
32 |
135 |
| Barrow |
18 |
1 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
0 |
44 |
122 |
| Darwen |
16 |
1 |
4 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
30 |
120 |
| Kendal |
17 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
1 |
32 |
115 |
| Lancaster |
17 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
9 |
1 |
21 |
107 |
| Carnforth |
17 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
9 |
1 |
34 |
87 |
| Preston |
18 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
12 |
0 |
42 |
82 |
| Fleetwood |
17 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
12 |
0 |
39 |
66 |
| Lancashire Colts |
8 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
62 |
** 2 points deducted for slow over rate
Division Two (2nd XI)
In Division Two defending champions Leyland had a ten wickets win over Morecambe at Fox Lane while Chorley kept up the pressure at the top with victory over Lancaster. Blackpool stayed in contention after a low-scoring victory at Preston.
Leyland (16-196) lead Chorley (16-173) by 23 points with Blackpool (17-169) in third.
Leyland openers Karl Cross and Ian Dickinson hurried their side to an emphatic win after Morecambe were dismissed for 104. Leg-spinner Tayyab Afsar took 5/35 and left-armer Stephen Cartwright 4/2. Cross then hit an unbeaten 66 off only 44 balls.
Chorley made 206/8 declared against Lancaster at Windsor Park, Dave Catterall making 76 and John Hotham 41. Chris Harty took 4/22 as the visitors were dismissed for 79.
Blackpool were dismissed for 118 at West Cliff, Imtiaz Matak taking 5/25; but they recovered to bowl out the hosts for 97 in reply, Ross Parker claiming 4/25 and Nathan Bird 3/11.
Andrew Cook bowled Darwen to victory against Barrow at Ernest Pass, taking five wickets in his side's victory by 75 runs after opener Danny Fradd made 54.
Elsewhere Netherfield had to settle for a winning draw at home to Carnforth after reducing the visitors to 124/8 chasing 181. St Annes defeated Fleetwood by six wickets in a high-scoring game at Broadwater.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES
Barrow v Darwen
Darwen (15pts) defeated Barrow (2pts) by 75 runs
Darwen 185/8 (D Fradd 54), Barrow 110 (A Cook 5/31)
Chorley v Lancaster
Chorley (15pts) defeated Lancaster (2pts) by 127 runs
Chorley 206/8dec (D Catterall 76, J Hotham 41), Lancaster 79 (C Harty 4/22)
Fleetwood v St Annes
St Annes (12pts) defeated Fleetwood (4pts) by 6 wickets
Fleetwood 229 - 7 (N Yousef 105, A Singleton 78), St Annes 232 - 5 (A Taylor 79, G Evans 63)
Leyland v Morecambe
Leyland (12pts) defeated Morecambe (0pts) by 10 wickets
Morecambe 104 (T Afsar 5/35, S Cartwright 4/2), Leyland 105/0 (K Cross 66no)
Netherfield v Carnforth
Netherfield (9pts) winning draw; Carnforth 4pts
Netherfield 180/9 (Stu Dixon 58, B Hoyle 5/66), Carnforth 124/8
Preston v Blackpool
Blackpool (15pts) defeated Preston (3pts) by 21 runs
Blackpool 118 (I Matak 5/25), Preston 97 (R Parker 4/25)
FURNESS BUILDING SOCIETY
( INCORPORATING READERS
CRICKET BALLS )
NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
Division Two
| Club |
P |
W15 |
W12 |
D4 |
D1 |
L |
NR4 |
BP |
Pts |
| Leyland |
16 |
9 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
13 |
196 |
| Chorley |
16 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
173 |
| Blackpool |
17 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
21 |
169 |
| Darwen |
16 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
14 |
150 |
| Netherfield |
17 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
10++ |
140 |
| Barrow |
17 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
37 |
112 |
| Kendal |
16 |
3 |
1 |
2*** |
0 |
7 |
3 |
24 |
102 |
| Preston |
17 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
1 |
26 |
90 |
| Morecambe |
17 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
9 |
1 |
25 |
89 |
| Carnforth |
17 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
9 |
2 |
38 |
88 |
| St Annes |
17 |
0 |
4 |
2*** |
3 |
5 |
3 |
15++ |
87 |
| Fleetwood |
16 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
3 |
22 |
85 |
| Lancaster |
17 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
1 |
20 |
75 |
++ 15points deducted
*** Tied match 5 points
