Fylde coast cricket round-up: Blackpool and St Annes lose but Fleetwood and Lytham press on

Blackpool also lost top spot in the process, going down by 99 runs at Longridge, while St Annes lost by 90 runs against last season’s runners-up, Lancaster.

The match at Longridge had seen the hosts opt to bat first, posting 210-6 from their 50 overs.

Josh Boyne had claimed two wickets with one each for Alex Ryder and Matt Grindley as Longridge reached 135-5.

Then came the game’s crucial stand as Zac Christie and Rhys Morgan added 65 for the sixth wicket.

That ended when Morgan fell for 39 – from only 21 balls faced – to become Boyne’s third wicket as he claimed 3-50.

Christie, nevertheless, ended 72 not out to leave Blackpool with a challenging target.

They were unable to chase it down, finishing all out for 111 after being reduced to 35-5.

Tom King (4), Dylan Henshall (2), Kasim Munir (0), Boyne (17) and Jake Muncaster (8) were the men out, leaving the middle and lower order with an uphill task.

Ben Howarth and Arran Lewin rallied with a stand of 45 before the latter fell for 19, followed by Howarth for an innings-high 37.

Blackpool had then reached 110-7 when the last three wickets fell for one run with Grindley (1), Ryder (13) and Jamie Thomson (0) all out to complete a tough day for the defending champions.

Meanwhile, at Vernon Road, St Annes dismissed Lancaster for 183 after their visitors had opted to bat first.

That total was largely built around a knock of 65 from Laurie Atkinson, though Yohan De Silva restricted any further scoring with 5-42.

St Annes’ reply started poorly with Tom Higson (0), Alex Bradley (4) and De Silva (4) all out as they slumped to 13-3.

Having reached 45-3, another three wickets fell for two runs with Lukman Vahaluwala (27), Nathan Bolus (6) and Andy Drake (0) the men to go.

James Bradley (0) was next to go, followed by Nathan Bend (23), to make the score 72-8.

Mitch Bolus (4) was the ninth man out on 93 but, with Luke Jardine unable to bat, it meant the end of the match with Harry Birkman 17 not out.

Fleetwood are now 32 points clear at the top of the Moore and Smalley Palace Shield Premier Division after extending their perfect start.

They were 55-run winners against Morecambe in their top-of-the-table meeting on home soil.

After being asked to bat first, Fleetwood lost Atiq Uz-Zaman (18), Charlie Clark (22) and Harry McAleer (11) in reaching 60-3.

That saw Declan Clerkin and Adam Sharrocks join forces for a crucial partnership.

They added 77 before Clerkin fell for a 43-ball 58, including a hat-trick of fours and sixes.

Sharrocks was eventually out for 51, Jeremy Davies adding an undefeated 23 as Fleetwood reached 188-5 at the close.

In reply, Morecambe slumped to 133 all out after all of their top order fell cheaply.

Zac Corcoran dismissed the top three on his way to figures of 3-37, while Clerkin picked up 2-34.

The star with the ball, however, was Jack Wilkinson as he finished with 4-29 to wrap up victory in the 44th over.

Also victorious were Kirkham and Wesham as they won by four wickets at Euxton.

The hosts batted first and recovered from 93-8 to 147 all out despite Bobby Bithell’s 5-24.

K&W had a nightmare start in reply, falling to 1-3 and then 95-6, but Jamie Hogarth’s undefeated 70 guided them to 151-6.

Great Eccleston also picked up a win as they saw off Penwortham by eight wickets.

Jim Procter took 5-41 and Alexander Rhodes 4-21 as Penwortham were all out for 155.

Great Eccleston then responded with 157-2, Joe Davies leading the run chase with 80 not out.

Thornton Cleveleys were beaten, however, losing a low-scoring game at Preston by 21 runs.

Daniel Howard claimed 3-18 as Preston were dismissed for 135 after choosing to bat first.

Thornton Cleveleys were then all out for 114, Navazish Ali taking 4-19 and Imran Patel 4-38.

In Division 1A, Dan Smith’s 74 helped Fylde to 214-9 against BAC/EE Preston, who were 141 all out in reply.

As for division two, Wrea Green’s bowlers inspired them to a 39-run defeat of St Annes’ seconds.

Wrea Green had been 97 all out batting first but they then rolled over St Annes for 58 in reply.

Norcross were 91 all out chasing Whittingham and Goosnargh’s 178, in which Safraz Patel made 99.

Lytham made it eight wins from eight in the Liverpool Competition’s First Division after beating Northop Hall by 96 runs.

Having been asked to bat first by their visitors, Lytham rattled up 253-4 before declaring midway through the 48th over.

They had started poorly, reduced to 15-2 with the dismissals of Myles Child (2) and Tom Jefferson (1).

That brought Indian professional Akash Vashist to the middle and the Indian all-rounder was to dominate the remainder of the innings.

He shared stands of 108 with Tom Hessey (56), 51 with Matt Taaffe (14) and an unbroken 79 alongside Toby Lester (39 not out).

Vashist ended 128 not out, hitting 17 boundaries and two sixes in a knock which only took 96 deliveries.

Northop Hall’s response saw them all out for 157 as Vashist and Lester dominated with the ball.

Lester dismissed three of the top four in taking 3-43, while Vashist ran through the lower order to finish with 4-37.

Jefferson (1-16) and Hessey (1-27) also took wickets as Lytham finished with 25 points to remain top of the table.