DIVISION ONE ROUND UP:
Barrow CC V Fleetwood CC at the Earnest Pass Memorial Ground
Fleetwood took full points and made it a day to forget for the Barrow faithful as they knocked off the target set by the Cumbrian outfit inside 17 overs.
Earlier Adam Parker and Travis Dean combined to make short work of the Barrow batting line up. Parker collected 4 for 4 in 7 destructive overs after coming on first change. Dean took three for 38 from 11 overs removing three of the Barrow top order before they had chance to get going.
Arguably the key wicket was collected by Patrick Ashton who picked up two for 23, Ashton removing Pawar when he was on 35 and undoubtedly looking to push on.
Barrow were all out for 86 in 34.3 overs and Fleetwood's batsman did not hang around as Dean hit 63 not out on debut to bring the Fylde Coast side home with ease.
Darwen CC V Blackpool CC at Birch Hall
It was a sweet victory for a Blackpool side which contained six U19 players as they restricted Darwen to just 114 defending an above par total of 149 at Birch Hall.
After winning the toss and electing to field Shrikant Wagh and Reece Davis (2-15) combined to reduce the Blackpool top order to tatters but they found the perennial Stephen Twist in good form as he hit 60 to recover the innings for the Stanley Park outfit, he was ably assisted by Andy Furniss (20) before Blackpool's tail chipped in with a valuable 29 runs, Wagh collected 5 for 64 on debut for Darwen.
Blackpool, without Richard Gleeson then set about defending their total, Jamie Thomson bowled with accuracy and movement to collect 3 for 35, removing Darwen's skipper Mark Friend in the process. Blackpool's sub-professional Rudy Second, a young batsman who represents Eastern Province had an excellent day with the ball, picking up 6 for 31 in 17 overs, removing the dangerous Lancashire CCC wicketkeeper Alex Davies and Darwen professional Wagh.
Kendal CC V Chorley CC at Shap Road
Chorley won with three balls to spare at Shap Road after knocking off a commanding total which had been posted by Kendal's batsmen. Lesiba Ngoepe (RSA) scored 50 on debut for Kendal and was competently supported in a partnership of 82 by Darren Braithwaite (33) before he fell to Stuart Naden after having reached his half century from 50 deliveries.
Tom Bailey made haste as he flayed the Chorley attack to all parts in the closing overs as he hit 42 from 26 deliveries to take Kendal past the 200 mark.
The wickets were very much shared around the Chorley bowlers with Bariwala picking up 2 for 52 against his former club.
With LCCC seamer Tom Bailey in their ranks the Cumbrian outfit must have fancied their chances of defending such a total, unfortunately Bilal Khiljee had other ideas as he hit an unbeaten 103 from 126 balls to guide the Windsor Park side home in the last over.
Khiljee is a Pakistani batsman that is well known over the border after scoring over 7000 runs and taking over 400 wickets in the Drakes Huddersfield League, after such a fluent start he is certainly one to watch.
Khiljee was supported by Andy Holdsworth (62) as they put on 103 for the second wicket. Chorley's nerve was severely tested by Tom Bailey (6-51) who was busy making short work of their middle order as they moved within sight of the winning line, however it was not to be for the Cumbrian side as Khiljee remained cool under pressure.
Lancaster CC V Netherfield CC at Lune Road
Lancaster took the spoils as they beat a strong Netherfield side thanks to a fantastic display from sub-professional Steven Mullaney (NCCC).
After being inserted the Lune Road outfit got off to a good start as all of the top five batsmen got into double figures, however, none of them went on and wickets soon began to fall as Seth Rance (4-22), Mark Clarkson (3-25) and Chambers (3-23) removed the Lunesiders lower order.
The Parkside Road outfit must have fancied the probability of surpassing a total of 117 but they were soon undone by a Lancaster attack led by Mullaney (5-37) who removed Ben Phillips early in the piece before removing Barrow after he had batted a good portion of the innings for 37.
Ben Simm collected his 500th Northern League Division One wicket after having removed the dangerous Huck who had moved on to 26 before being adjudged LBW and Ryan Wilson to complete the victory for the Lune Valley side.
Leyland CC V Preston CC at the The Stanning Memorial Ground
Leyland picked up 15 points after beating a much changed Preston Side at The Stanning Memorial Ground.
After winning the toss and electing to bat they may have been regretful as the Preston bowlers made short work of the Leyland top order, fortunately Karl Cross (46) held firm and he found support in Andrew Makinson (47) as the Fox Lane outfit recovered well. The lower order chipped in with a crucial 37 runs as they made the West Cliff attack work very hard to get the last few wickets.
Lukman Vahaluwala had a good day with the ball as he collected 5 for 35 from 15 overs.
Leyland's bowling attack led by the miserly bowling of David Makinson then took regular wickets as many of Preston's batsmen made starts but failed to go on.
The experience of Makinson shone through as he amassed 4 for 16 off a very tight 12.2 overs to lead Leyland to victory on the opening day of the season.
Morecambe CC v Penrith CC at Woodhill Lane
Reigning champions Morecambe had to settle for a winning draw at Woodhill Lane as Penrith held out to finish 202-9 chasing a sizeable total of 230.
Morecambe had Yorkshireman and sub-professional Brett Hutton (NCCC) to thank for their total of 230 as he accumulated 114 batting at number three, Hutton was assisted by Gareth Pedder (58) and a few runs from the lower order.
Penrith sub-professional Chris Hodgson (Cumberland CCC) took four for 53 and debutant Michael Hay collected four for 63 to ensure that Penrith collected full bowling bonus points.
Penrith began positively as Nicky Burns (24), Hodgson (80) and Hay (47) piled on the runs, fortunately for Morecambe, Hutton (5-57) took wickets at regular intervals which left the Penrith tail vulnerable, however, they were not for moving and they successfully held out in the remaining overs to leave Morecambe with a draw on the opening day of the season.
FIRST DIVISION SCORES
Barrow v Fleetwood
Fleetwood (15 pts) defeated Barrow (0 pts) by 8 wickets
Barrow 86 (Adam Parker 4-4)), Fleetwood 88 - 2 (Travis Dean 63no)
Darwen v Blackpool
Blackpool (15 pts) defeated Darwen (3 pts) by 35 runs
Blackpool 149 (Stephen Twist 60, Srlkant Wagh 5-64), Darwen 114 (Rudi Second 6-31)
Kendal v Chorley
Chorley (15 pts) defeated Kendal (5 pts) by 3 wickets
Kendal 203 (Lesiba Chris Ngoepe 50, Thomas Bailey 42), Chorley 204 - 7 (Bilal Khiljee 103no, Andrew Holdsworth 62, Thomas Bailey 6-51)
Lancaster v Netherfield
Lancaster (15 pts) defeated Netherfield (6 pts) by 10 runs
Lancaster 117 (Seth Rance 4-22), Netherfield 107 (Steven Mullaney 5-37)
Leyland v Preston
Leyland (15 pts) defeated Preston (3 pts) by 57 runs
Leyland 164 (Andrew Makinson 47, Karl Cross 46, Lukman Vahaluwala 5-35), Preston 107 (David Makinson 4-16)
Morecambe v Penrith
Morecambe (12 pts) winning draw Penrith (6 pts)
Morecambe 230 (Brett Hutton 114, Gareth Pedder 58, Chris Hodgson 4-53, Michael Hay 4-63 ), Penrith 202 - 9 (Chris Hodgson 80, Michael Hay 47, Brett Hutton 5-57)
DIVISION 2:
Blackpool, Fleetwood and Leyland claimed comprehensive victories on the opening day of the season as they brushed their opponents aside with ease.
After winning the toss at Stanley Park, Blackpool elected to bowl and were soon into the Darwen middle order, Joel Watson picked up three early wickets before New Zealander Dan Pile cleaned up the rest with five for 18. Skipper Owen then made a breezy 44 not out to see his side home in the 23rd over.
Leyland won in a similar fashion at West Cliff, Steve Pallett picked up two for 5 from 7 overs before Kurt Heaven took three wickets to reduce Preston to 98 all out.
Saif Ullah (41) was the only Preston batsman to offer any resistance to a strong Leyland attack. Hamza Khan and Tom Reece then put on 99 for the first wicket to guide the Fox Lane outfit to victory.
At Broadwater, Fleetwood amassed 232 from their allotted overs as they made the Barrow bowlers toil in the chilly weather conditions on the Fylde Coast.
Wayne Clarke made 52 before James Gregson and Alex Ryder both hit scores of 40 and 43* respectively to take Fleetwood well past the 200 mark.
What followed was surreal with Barrow making a wobbly start before the green shoots of recovery began to appear courtesy of Glen Kermode (49) and Sam Henderson (23), any hopes of victory were dashed as the next 7 batsmen all failed to trouble the scorers as Alex Ryder picked up four for 29.
Lancaster suffered defeat at the hands of an experienced Netherfield side who took a liking to conditions at Parkside Road.
Lancaster made full use of their overs and posted a slightly under par total of 125-9, Marc Hadwin did the major damage for the Cumbrian side as he collected 5-11 in 12 very tight overs.
Netherfield's batsmen then knocked off the total in 29 overs as skipper Scott Clement hit 31 to escort his side to victory and 15 points on the opening day of the season.
The remaining fixtures of the day were somewhat nail biting with both Chorley and Penrith holding on to record victory by a single wicket against Kendal and Morecambe.
Both of the aforementioned sides recorded low scores batting first and came ever so close to defending them, Chris Harty took two for 13 from 12 overs before Chorley were guided home by Adam McCullagh and Jack Busch after earlier knocks of 37 and 35 from Will Moulton and Ian Oakes.
Penrith were reliant upon two excellent individual performances from Jamie O'Brien and Kieron Trevaskis, O'Brien took 6-26 as Morecambe were restricted to 139 in 27.5 overs, Trevaskis (51no) then marshalled the tail with aplomb as he brought up his half century and steered Penrith home to victory in the 52nd over.
SECOND DIVISION SCORES
Blackpool v Darwen
Blackpool (15 pts) defeated Darwen (0 pts) by 9 wickets
Darwen 85 (Daniel Pile 5-18), Blackpool 86 - 1 (Sam Owen 44no)
Chorley v Kendal
Kendal (15 pts) defeated Kendal (3 pts) by 1 wicket
Kendal 103, Chorley 104 - 9 (Joseph Dodds 4-22)
Fleetwood v Barrow
Fleetwood (15 pts) defeated Barrow (0 pts) by 147 runs
Fleetwood 232 - 5 (Wayne Clarke 52, Alex Ryder 43no, James Gregson 40no)), Barrow 85 (Glen Kermode 49, Alex Ryder 4-29)
Netherfield v Lancaster
Netherfield (15 pts) defeated Lancaster (2 pts) by 6 wickets
Lancaster 125 - 9 (M Farouk 50, Marc Hadwin 5-11), Netherfield 129 - 4
Penrith v Morecambe
Penrith (15 pts) defeated Morecambe (4 pts) by 1 wicket
Morecambe 139 (Jamie O'Brien 6-26), Penrith 140 - 9 (Kieron Trevaskis 51no)
Preston v Leyland
Leyland (15 pts) defeated Preston (0 pts) by 10 wickets
Preaton 98 (Saif Ullah 41), Leyland 99 - 0 (Tom Reece 66no)
