Featuring another piece of silverware for Northern, another win for Newton and all change at the top of Division Two…
CREDIT: Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online
Northern celebrate winning the T20 finals day at Formby
ECB Vitality Club T20: Liverpool Competition finals day
Northern skipper James Cole is looking forward to a “special” second half of the season after his side romped to finals day victory.
They have now won four of the last six league competitions and went on to the national title in 2024 – few would bet against them going a long way this time round.
Cole said: “We’re in the mix to go quite deep again. Obviously, in the next round, anything can happen.
“But we’ve done quite well in this competition. We feel like we’ve got quite a lot of bowling options and we’ve got a couple of lads to come back into the side as well.
“Having five or six good bowling options really, really helps. You can spread it around a bit and people can’t get settled against bowlers, which is I think really, really important on flat wickets with a pink ball.”
Sunday belonged to Liam Grey, who made 117 runs off 74 balls and took 4/46 from his eight overs across both games.
Cole said: “Liam, on his day, is one of the best cricketers in the league and the North West.
“He’s probably been a bit disappointed with his own batting at times this year. He’s had a couple of big scores and then he’s had a couple of poor decisions and he’s not scored as heavily as he’d like to.
“But he’s a big game player. He’s scored hundreds in Lancashire Cup finals, done well in national knockout games, and with the bat, ball or in the field, he’s a three-dimensional cricketer.
“And if you’re a three-dimensional cricketer, you’re always going to be having these special performances.”
In the day’s first semi-final, Liverpool had no answer to Tom Sephton, whose 4/31 stopped a strong start in its tracks and left a target of just 133, on a good Formby pitch and a baked outfield. Grey’s 66 made short work of the chase.
Batting first against Birkenhead Park in the final, Grey and Louis Bhabra put on 111 together but both fell in the 14th over and the rest of the innings was an anticlimax – Cole reckons the turning point was Grey hitting the ball out of the ground, and the replacement being more helpful to the bowlers.
Park, who had stunned Leigh in the second semi by chasing 161 just three down, set out in pursuit of 172 with every reason to think they could pull it off.
A lot depended on their top three of big-hitting captain Alex Harris, Sri Lankan Test star Lasith Embuldeniya and former Northern man Andy Clarke, who had made an unbeaten 58 to clinch the semi.
But Harris and Embuldeniya were gone within 13 balls and by the time Grey got Clarke for 31, the required rate was climbing fast.
From 79/3, Park managed just 28 more runs before Cole held Mark Wilkie off Sephton to finish the innings in the 16th over, 64 short.
Northern’s opponents in the regional finals day are not yet decided.
But next weekend brings them the chance to close the gap in the league on leaders Newton-le-Willows at Moor Park, followed by a home Lancashire KO semi-final against Horwich RMI – Cole feels like the business end of the season, when his side typically excels, is fast approaching.
“If we play well for another two or three weeks, we’ll be level pegging in the league and in a Lancashire Cup final,” he said.
“We’ve got to play well. We know Newton are a really good side on a massive roll. And Horwich are a really good side as well.
“But we could be set up for a very special second half of the year.”
ECB Premier Division
Newton-le-Willows’ lead at the top is now an imposing 30 points after a routine victory over Rainhill.
Zac Perren and Ben Walkden put on 113 for the opening stand; Walkden fell for 64 but Perren went on to an unbeaten 115 out of a total of 261/5.
Walkden’s opening burst then reduced the reply to 5/3 and while there was a recovery of sorts, the visitors fell 145 runs short.
Northern are Newton’s closest challengers after Tom Sephton’s 5/59 wrapped up a 69-run win over Wallasey. Alec McLoughlin top-scored with 59 in the hosts’ 191/8.
Formby completed a league double over defending champions Ormskirk, whose run looks almost certain to end at three titles in a row. Ian Cockbain led the way with an unbeaten 121 in the hosts’ 254/6, backed up by 56 from Lucas Kennedy, who then took four top-order wickets to reduce the visitors to 13/4. Marlon Welcome-Goodman’s 50 was the highest score for Ormskirk.
Liverpool earned an impressive win at Rainford, with Aussie spinner Matt Pearce taking 7/96. Jason Login’s 67 was the top score in the hosts’ pursuit of 222, after Alex Rankin led the way for the visitors with 58.
Karl Brown followed eight wickets last weekend with 6/24 as Leigh rolled bottom side Wigan for 117 – the last five wickets fell without a run being added to the score. Faiz Khandu induced some wobbles with 4/41 but the visitors got over the line with four wickets to spare.
Orrell Red Triangle earned a potentially crucial win over Firwood Bootle to put some distance between themselves and danger. David Bowden’s 5/76 restricted the visitors to 170, despite Ivan Kriek’s 74; Bowden then joined Kelan Florentine for an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 74 to get the hosts home.
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Division One
The promotion race is shaping up to be any two from Southport & Birkdale, Colwyn Bay and Highfield – Saturday’s only winners.
The Sandgrounders are nine points clear after their derby win at Ainsdale. Muhammad Kashif’s 5/47 restricted the hosts to 167 before Raunak Roy’s 60 broke the back of the chase.
Bay got the better of Birkenhead Park thanks to 5/74 from Tom Clarke, followed by 76 from Zack Gidlow in a potentially tricky chase of 214.
And Highfield recovered from a sticky start to overcome winless Hightown St Marys. Captain Ryan Hargreaves made an unbeaten 85 and Lahiru Wellalage 64 to post 225/6; Jackson Darkes-Sutcliffe’s 51 was in vain in the second innings.
Sefton Park were one wicket from victory at Sutton, but the last pair of Andy Cowley and Nat Brown survived 28 balls to close on 169/9 in reply to the visitors’ 216/7, with 77 for Chris Bellis and 63 for Paul Horton.
Marc Birch took 5/33 as Spring View restricted Maghull to 184, with Josh Byrne’s 81 the top score, but it took an unbroken eight-wicket stand of 58 between Matthew Speakman, who made 50, and Robbie McLaughlin to close out the draw.
Only nine wickets fell all day at New Brighton, where Northop Hall were the visitors. Connor Windell cashed in with 143 for the Rakers and Damitha Silva made 58 to post 247/5, but Christian Jardine’s 85 helped ensure there were no alarms in the visitors’ reply.
Division Two
Not one of the top five sides ended the weekend in the same place they started it as the promotion race hots up.
Southport Trinity are the new leaders after their six-wicket win over St Helens Town, set up by Mark Prince’s 5/31.
Parkfield Liscard went second thanks to a four-wicket win over Wavertree, who posted 198/6 thanks to Theo O’Brien’s 87. Muhammad Khan made 67 to kick-start the successful chase.
Norley Hall slipped from first to third after Caldy closed on 154/7 in reply to 221/6. Dan Fisher finished on 70 not out for the visitors, who were frustrated by Vincent Masekesa’s unbeaten 72.
Old Xaverians also dropped out of the top two after their defeat to Fleetwood Hesketh, who go fourth. Callum Hawksworth and Matt Dawson took four wickets each to restrict the visitors to 129, which the hosts overhauled with six wickets to spare.
Prestatyn’s last pair of Kieron New and Adam Tidswell got the over the line against Whitefield, for whom Liam Crilly made an unbeaten 71 as Ben Hughes starred with 6/28.
Bottom side Cheshire Lines piled on 280/9 at Prescot & Odyssey thanks to 82 from Vikhyat Bisht and an unbeaten 69 from Muhammad Musa Khan, but the hosts closed on 100/7.
CREDIT: Tom Evans @ Merseyside Cricket Online
