Fylde coast cricket review: NPCL clubs’ day to forget as Kirkham and Wesham reach Meyler Cup final
NPCL clubs played their final 40 Over Cup group stage matches on Saturday.
Cup matches took centre stage last weekend, with disappointment for the Fylde coast’s NPCL clubs but success for Kirkham and Wesham.
Saturday saw Blackpool and Fleetwood miss out on places in the NPCL’s 40 Over Cup knockout phase as both lost their final group stage games.
Blackpool lost by 131 runs at Kendal, where the hosts batted first and rattled up 307-6.
Finlay Richardson made all the difference, hitting 15 fours and eight sixes in finishing 142 not out from only 87 balls.
It was too stiff a target for Blackpool to chase as they fell for 104-2 to 176 all out, Dylan Henshall hitting 56 and Andrew Needham 36.
Fleetwood saw visitors Euxton depart Broadwater with a five-wicket win, having posted 186-8 after opting to bat first.
Skipper Declan Clerkin top-scored with 51, while Jeremy Davies added 38, before Euxton responded with 187-5 in 36 overs.
Nishan Peiris made 48 before James Bone (42 not out) and Jack Morgan (30 not out) took Euxton to their target.
Batters were on top as St Annes lost a high-scoring clash with Fulwood and Broughton at Vernon Road.
Zain Abbas (63), Evan Dobson (61 not out) and Harry Birkman (54 not out) all made half-centuries as St Annes reached 298-4.
However, F&B’s reply saw them reach 299-4 with 10 balls remaining as Ben Rosbottom struck an undefeated 138 from only 106 balls.
Thornton Cleveleys finished their campaign with a one-wicket loss at Preston.
Having batted first at West Cliff, TC were 124-3 at one stage before finishing on 189-9 as Sam Curwen made 52.
Things looked to be going TC’s way in the field when Preston collapsed from 62-0 to 130-6.
However, the lower order fought back and claimed victory by reaching 190-9 with eight balls left.
Lytham’s maiden cup campaign ended with them finishing bottom of the pile after six defeats from six.
They went down by 22 runs at Great Eccleston, who achieved their first victory in the competition.
It was another day for the batters as Great Ecc opted to bat first and finished on 276-9, Will Smith and Mohamed Nadeem both making 62.
Archie Banks-Smith took 4-63 for a Lytham team which was dismissed for 254 with two deliveries to go.
Sahaan Sahaan hit 80 and Myles Child 55 but none of Lytham’s last five batters scored more than seven.
K&W, however, reached the Meyler Cup final after beating Penrith by 50 runs on Sunday.
Batting first, they finished their 40 overs on 266-7 thanks to Niall Dunn (78 not out), Theo Cunliffe (60) and Sean Bovington (45).
Penrith were all out for 216 as Cooper McLean took 3-40 and Cunliffe 3-65.
That sets up a final with Leyland’s seconds, whom they defeated by 115 runs in division one of the Palace Shield on Saturday.
Batting first at the Woodlands, K&W saw Bovington hit 81 and Dunn 59 in their 254 all out before Cunliffe grabbed 3-23 with the visitors dismissed for 139
Fylde defeated Garstang’s seconds by 25 runs in the Palace Shield Championship.
Darcy Whitten (88 not out) and Dan Smith (45 not out) put on 139 as Fylde recovered from 134-5 to finish on 173-5.
Will Thomas then took 5-44 as Garstang were bowled out for 148.