Armstrong stands firm to foil Leyland

The hosts bounced back from their defeat by Fleetwood as David Makinson’s side piled on 265-5 but had to settled for a winning draw against third-placed St Annes.

Leyland elected to bat and declared five overs early to give themselves more time to bowl St Annes out after four of the top five scored half-centuries.

Matthew Grindley took all three wickets to fall, though conceded 82 runs from his 17 overs as Chris Parkinson and Daniel Lamb compiled an unbroken century stand for the fourth wicket. Parkinson led the way with 84 off 77 balls and Lamb finished with 53 off 63.

Hopes of a St Annes victory quickly disappeared as the top four all fell for scores between 10 and 15, Andrew Makinson taking three of them for final figures of 3-41 off 15.

St Annes just about clung on for the draw as no.5 Nathan Armstrong held them together with 75 off 117 balls, including nine fours and two sixes.

He looked like running out of partners as Tawab Afsar claimed 4-59 off 17 overs but last man Mitchell Bolus survived 15 balls as St Annes completed their 55 overs on 186-9.

It means Leyland have consolidated second spot but Barrow extended their lead with victory over Lancaster.

Champions Fleetwood are up to sixth after their slow start but were denied a third straight win by Kendal despite two centuries.

Kendal’s decision to insert the hosts appeared justified as they stumbled to 13-2, but then Adam Parker and Ian Holland amassed 222 for the third wicket.

Opener Parker celebrated his first ton of the season, scoring 113 off 146 balls with 16 fours and a six.

Australian professional Holland’s 108 was his highest score and his second century for the club, scored off 96 balls with 16 fours.

Fleetwood then lost six wickets for 35 before declaring at 270-8 after 48.1 overs as Adam Cowperthwaite took 4-83 from 17 overs and Jack White 3-59 off 12.1.

But although Sam Bell dismissed Kendal opener Ryan Nelson with just a single on the board, Kendal held on for the draw without too much difficulty, closing at 172-6 after 51 overs.

A fifth-wicket stand of 72 between top scorer Terry Hunte (63) and White (33) eased any Kendal fears, though Holland completed his excellent day with 4-63 off 17 overs.

After the previous weekend’s double defeat, Blackpool’s woes continued as Morecambe made light work of a four-wicket win at Stanley Park.

The hosts elected to bat but could only reach 152-8 despite a first 50 of the season from captain Paul Danson, scored off 99 balls with eight fours.

But this couldn’t inspire his charges as the final seven wickets fell for 35 runs, Richard Cupit taking 3-26 off eight overs and Tommy Clough 3-41 from 19.

Morecambe lost Josh Dixon before a run was scored but still reached their target with over 10 overs to spare. No3 Vishal Tripathi’s 34 was the highest of a series of solid knocks by the top-order men, Ash Moreau the only Blackpool bowler to claim a second victim.

Fleetwood’s turnaround in fortunes began with a twenty20 victory over Blackpool, who will hope the same happens in reverse when the teams meet again in the short-format competition at Broadwater on Thursday.