Reports, reactions and round-up: August 31-September 1

Ormskirk celebrate winning the Ray Digman Trophy

Ormskirk lifted the first trophy of a potential treble, overcoming Rainford in the Ray Digman Trophy final.

It was a day for turners – captain Gary Knight left out Sam Marsh and went with three specialist spinners, matching the hosts’ attack.

And it was a day for Turner, as player of the match Calum continued his excellent form this season with 82 from 95 balls at the top of the order, finding the perfect blend of aggression and patience.

Calum Turner on the attack for Ormskirk in the Ray Digman Trophy final

His support was sporadic and kept getting out, and Andy Davies claimed three wickets to show the holders weren’t about to let go of their trophy without a fight.

From 67/1, Ormskirk stumbled in the middle overs to 128/6, eventually posting 192/9 – tricky, but not beyond an excellent chasing side.

They were hampered by two mainstays of the club cricket scene – September rain, and Toby Bulcock.

The left-armer removed both openers before a long delay at 30/2; with only eight overs bowled, there would have been no result.

When the players eventually emerged, the target was reduced to 150 off 29 overs. But with more weather about, John Dotters and his side kept half an eye on the DLS par.

The skipper made 31 off 20 balls and, at 95/5, the par was just five runs away – it was the closest they got.

Bulcock and Jamie Barnes made regular breakthroughs to keep Rainford at arm’s length, and they limped to the close on 130/9.

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Highfield celebrate winning the Ray Tyler Cup

Highfield romped to their second Ray Tyler Cup win in three years, seeing off Sutton with a convincing win.

By the time the rain came, the Division Two side had just batted the 10 overs needed to make a game of it – they were 42/6, in vain pursuit of a distant 245 and well behind the DLS par of 160.

The match turned on a stand of 111 for the sixth wicket between Mohit Jangra and Madduma Lakmal, after the hosts had slipped to 77/4 then, with the departure of Hedley Molyneux for 53, 118/5.

Captain Mike Farrell said: “We had a bit of a scratchy start, but I knew our batters lower down were strong.

“As soon as we got over 200, I thought with our bowling attack we had enough, and it was down to those two.

“Trophies don’t come along very often but we’ve won two in three now, so we’re well happy.”

Andy Cowley had been the pick of the Sutton bowlers, finishing with 2/37. 

With rain on the way, the St Helens side came out swinging but had no answer to Jangra, who claimed 4/15 to secure the silverware.

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August slipped away with a flourish of sunshine, but the picture in the Love Lane Liverpool Competition’s ECB Premier Division is still a little cloudy.

Southport & Birkdale are still in relegation danger after Newton-le-Willows’ Safi Abdullah spun them out, his 6/21 making a modest target of 149 look like a mountain.

David Snellgrove’s side have been below strength for much of the season, particularly with the bat.

After Safi and Ben Walkden had seen off the visitors’ top order, the only question was whether the Pakistani left-armer was turning the ball too much to get rid of the rest.

Snellgrove and Tom Baybutt resisted for 40 minutes but couldn’t get the ball off the square, and once Luke Yates lured the skipper into a top-edged pull, the rest fell quickly.

Earlier, Nathan Hughes had made the game’s top score of 53 with an all-out assault in the opening overs.

But Tom Crew made inroads at the other end, and the off-breaks of Firth and Snellgrove kept chipping away.

Safi lingered for 45 balls over 19, as he and captain Chris Chambers hit the brakes – by the time he had the ball in his hand, he knew just what was required.

Birkenhead Park failed to take full advantage of S&B’s defeat, but they did slightly stretch their lead with a spirited effort at Rainhill.

The hosts’ 221, with 79 for Bilal Khan and 55 for Saeed Ullah, proved to be just too much – despite the best efforts of Malinda Pushpakumara, who took 9/95 in a spell of 28.5 overs, and Mark Rowland, who took the other wicket than made 77 in the reply.

Tom Foster was last out, trapped by Khalid Usman, but not before he had steered the tail to two extra batting points, meaning Park lead S&B by five, with three games left.

Wigan are 37 points clear of Park and will be glancing nervously over their shoulders after capitulating for just 50 at Leigh. Finn Hulbert took career-best 8/33, as only Josh Boyden made double figures.

New Brighton’s relegation is all but confirmed, and their role on Saturday was as the fall guys in the drama at the top. Leaders Ormskirk piled up 246/2, with 50s for Calum Turner, George Lavelle and Sam Holden, before Scott Lees took 5/22 to blow the Rakers away.

And a rare slip-up from Northern at Wallasey left the defending champions in pole position. 

Mindful of the need to leave nothing to chance, James Cole pulled out at 220/3 after half-centuries for Chris Laker and Jac Kennedy. At 115/6 in the reply, it looked to have worked. 

But Wallasey have found some extra resilience with the bat in recent weeks. No-one made more than Evan Withe’s 37, but five others passed 20; Chris Davies and Andrew Beaver put together a ninth-wicket stand of 51 to pull off the heist.

Rainford chased 167 to beat Formby by six wickets, after John Dotters’ 7/60. Paul Farrar’s 62 did the bulk of the chasing.

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Firwood Bootle need just nine points to secure a return to the top flight, after the Division One leaders comfortably chased 130 at Old Xaverians.

Both the chasing sides slipped up – Colwyn Bay falling well short at Lytham after 50s for Matt Wood and Zak Foulkes, and Highfield unable to stop Liverpool chasing 164, with Nathan Pickering’s 59 the winning hand.

It means Orrell Red Triangle have an outside chance of sneaking into the picture thanks to their four-wicket win over Fleetwood Hesketh. Matty Howard made an unbeaten 102 in the visitors’ 224/7, but half-centuries from the in-form Luke Prescott and Richard Everett carried Orrell to their target.

Hesketh remain rooted to the bottom, with St Helens Town joining them in the drop zone after their seven-wicket loss to Spring View.

Sefton Park and Maghull had to settle for a draw, with Chris Bellis’s unbeaten 79 taking the hosts to within eight runs of victory. Openers Jon Ring and Liam Crilly were in the runs for Maghull.

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Hightown St Marys reclaimed top spot in Division Two thanks to a 38-run win over bottom side Prestatyn. Captain Matt White starred with 7/19.

Second-placed Sutton were held to a draw at Norley Hall, the hosts closing nine down, with Michael Simpson unbeaten on 63. Jack York and Cronje Van Greunen made half-centuries for Sutton.

Caldy missed the chance to trouble the top two, well-beaten by Ainsdale thanks to five-fors for Andy Barlow and Dilanka Auwardt. Danny Horne made 55 for the visitors.

Whitefield earned a crucial win at Northop Hall to move clear of the bottom, left-arm spinner Farhan Jahangir taking 5/21 to defend a total set up by Muhammad Azeem’s 51.

Southport Trinity are in the relegation mixer after their four-wicket defeat at Wavertree.

And Parkfield Liscard’s 261/9 was comfortably too much for Alder.

from Merseyside Cricket Online https://ift.tt/mMK1vkg