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Birkenhead Park 1st XI were held to a draw by Formby last weekend, despite a second successive half-century by captain Tom Foster.
Park elected to field first on a warm Saturday at Park Drive, on what looked a very flat wicket.
Alex Baker picked up the early wicket of Ollie Sutton for 6, caught by Mark Rowland, leaving Formby 11-1.
However, Formby proceeded to pile on the runs as captain Calum Turner and Sam Oldham put on a mammoth 253 run stand on for the second wicket, both bringing up hundreds in the process.
The visitors cashed in on the batting-friendly conditions in Birkenhead and posted an imperious 264 for 3 declared. Oldham and Turner were both eventually dismissed for 135 (161 balls, 19 fours, 2 sixes) and 111 (154 balls, 14 fours, 1 six) respectively.
Baker was pick of the bowlers for Park, on what was a tough day in the field, finishing with figures of 2 for 59 from his 14.4 overs.
Victory was still well within Park’s reach given the conditions and last week’s chase at New Brighton still fresh in the mind.
In response, a quick-fire fifty partnership from Rowland (40) and Mike Barnes (15), got Park off to a perfect start, but three wickets from Sam Ellis and four wickets from Steve Lazars pegged the 1s back to 126 for 7.
Alex Harris‘ 24 gave Park some late hope but the fall of his wicket with the score at 155, left Park with some work to do to hold on for a draw.
Skipper Foster had watched wickets tumble around him, but showed great character, alongside Jon Crofton, to score his third half-century of the season (67 not out, 115 balls, 5 fours, 2 sixes).
The pair put on a battling fifty partnership to see Park home for a draw, which leaves them ninth in the Premier League table. Next up is a trip to Wigan next weekend.
Birkenhead Park 2nd XI are looking upwards in the 2nd XI Premier League table as they crushed Orrell Red Triangle 2nd XI by 100 runs on Saturday.
Skipper Danny Jordan won the toss and elected to bat on a gloomy day in Orrell.
Two wickets set the 2s back early on, leaving the score 27 for 2. However, Jordan and Jack Dixon got the innings back on track with a partnership of 59 for the third wicket. Jordan eventually falling to Gareth Houghton for 28.
Dixon, now joined by Charlie Jones, began to look comfortable at the crease, moving past fifty in the process, as the pair saw off a challenging opening spell from Houghton and Phil Taberner, that totalled 35 overs.
The score quickly moved past 100 as Dixon began to put his foot on the gas and motored towards three figures of his own.
The wicket of Jones for 11 bought to an end a fourth-wicket partnership of 70, but this didn’t halt Dixon, as he hit the ball to all parts of the ground to bring up a brilliant hundred, that had set the game up for Park. The second fifty coming off just 27 balls.
The left-hander’s innings was soon ended for 100 (121 balls, 13 fours, 2 sixes) and some late hitting took the 2s up to 190-6 from 45 overs, and the declaration.
Bailey Jones and David Nevin applied early pressure for Park, with the latter making the breakthrough with four quick wickets, including a remarkable hat-trick in the 14th over, which included the dismissal of Orrell captain Steven Unsworth.
The hat-trick left the hosts reeling at 35-4, before Jones picked up two, well-deserved wickets himself, as Park were well in control of the game.
Some glorious boundaries through mid-on from Oliver Mahoney provided some respite for Orrell, but a double breakthrough from Archie Dicken took the 2s closer to victory.
Louie Evans then took wickets number 35 and 36 of his impressive start to the season, as the 2s bowled Orrell out for 90 to pick up the full 25 points.
Next up for Jordan’s men is a mouth-watering clash with table toppers Formby, who sit 38 points above Park, in third. Then on Sunday, the 2s travel to Northern for the second round of the Chester Cup.
The 3s recorded a dominant win of their own, as they ran out 73 run winners over Maghull 3rd XI on Saturday. A maiden senior century for Jack Lambert (105 not out, 128 balls, 15 fours), 80 from Alomgir Shah (85 balls, 14 fours, 1 six) and a quick-fire 34 off 19 balls from Callum Jones took the 3s up to 231 for 2 declared.
Jones and Delwar Hossain then picked up three wickets apiece to bowl Maghull out for 158. The 3s remain third in the table and host Goodlass on Saturday.
The Liverpool Superkings ended the 3s chances of cup glory on Thursday in the Embee Trophy, and then on Sunday in the Mike Leddy Cup. Dom Hogarth and Matty Woods stood out with the ball on Thursday with three and two wickets respectively. Callum Jones capped off an excellent weekend personally, as he scored 56 in Sunday’s defeat.
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