Fylde coast cricket review: Lytham and Thornton Cleveleys in a four-team fight to avoid relegation
NPCL division two relegation battle goes to the final round of fixtures.
Lytham and Thornton Cleveleys go into this weekend’s final round of NPCL division two matches as two of the four teams aiming to avoid relegation.
Only two points separate eighth-placed Lytham and second-bottom Carnforth after a six-run defeat for the former against Barrow on Saturday.
After opting to field first, Lytham saw Antony Mulligan claim 5-50 and Sahaan Sahaan 3-13 as Barrow fell from 106-2 to 171 all out despite 71 from Liyanage Fernando.
Myles Child made 31 in Lytham’s reply but their cause seemed lost when they fell to 90-8.
Ben Saunders then led the fightback, sharing 50 for the ninth wicket with Antony Mulligan (16).
However, with seven needed to win and two balls left, Saunders fell to Declan Tyson (4-57) after making 76.
TC lost by 113 runs against Penwortham at Illawalla, where the visitors were put in and made 251-8.
Jonathan Hothersall (97) and Kieren Grimshaw (82) added 151 for the second wicket as no other batter made more than 12 in their innings.
Both fell to TC skipper Josh Sackfield (5-54), whose players were dismissed for 138 with nine-and-a-half overs still to play.
Sackfield led by example when TC batted, playing a lone hand as he top-scored with 52.
Sam Curwen (11) and Jake Apperley (11 not out) were the next highest scorers as TC lost wickets at regular intervals.
Hothersall followed up his batting exploits by taking 3-23 while Natham Walmsley claimed 3-38.
Elsewhere, Fleetwood’s hope of an unbeaten season ended with an eight-wicket loss at Fulwood and Broughton.
Harry McAleer (21) and Dan Salpietro (17) were the only batters in double figures as the champions were skittled for 54.
Simon Kerrigan took 5-1 for F&B, who eased to 56-2 midway through the 18th over.
Great Eccleston lost by 30 runs at Carnforth, where Mohammed Fazil’s 82 helped them to 199 all out chasing the hosts’ 229-7 in which Jaco Beneke struck 118 not out.
Although their campaign ended in relegation, Harry Birkman’s players at least completed the year in successful fashion.
They were asked to bat first and completed their 50 overs on 217-6.
It was Zain Abbas who dominated the innings, hitting 13 boundaries as he finished 102 not out.
That included stands of 42 with Ashton Charles (26) and 68 with Luke Jardine (24).
Ockert Erasmus finished with 3-52 for Blackpool, who were dismissed for 155 with 55 balls remaining.
Erasmus (55 not out) and Andrew Needham (38) added 66 for the third wicket, only for Blackpool to lose their last eight wickets for 71 runs.
Rory Urquhart was St Annes’ star with the ball, taking 4-31.
Fylde are in the Palace Shield Championship’s bottom three after a sixth consecutive defeat.
They lost by 159 runs at Penrith 2, who were all out for 218 despite Dan Smith’s 5-47.
However, Fylde were bundled out for 59 with Sam Sharp taking 7-28.
As for division one, Kirkham and Wesham cannot finish lower than sixth despite losing by 110 runs at third-bottom Penwortham 2.
The hosts batted first and made 253-9, Muhammad Ilyas top-scoring with 51 as Cooper McLean took 5-61.
Ryan Galligan (37) top-scored in K&W’s 143 all out, in which Adam Salisbury claimed 5-51.