Hundred-ball cricket comes to Rainhill

Rainhill Recreationals hosted South Liverpool in The 100-Ball Match

South Liverpool 167-5 Rainhill 78-8

South Liverpool won by 89 runs Rainhill hosted its frst ever 100-ball game on Wednesday 17th August when a Recreationals side took on South Liverpool. The match marked the 100th anniversary of Rainhill Cricket Club's move to the current Victoria Terrace ground.

South Liverpool won the toss, which was a huge one to win as it meant Rainhill would be batting second under fading light. South Liverpool, a team accustomed to playing a fair bit of T20 cricket, batted purposefully from the outset but Rainhill created several chances. Wafa Nizam, Kristopher Duffin, Colin Moran and Ben Wilkinson all took wickets but the visitors were still able to post a formidable target of 167 for 5. Nizam finished up with two wickets but perhaps the most impressive of the bowlers was Ben Wilkinson. South Liverpool's batsmen struggled with his medium pace and he was unlucky not to claim more than one victim.

Rainhill began their innings well with Leo Scott launching the pink ball into one of the surrounding gardens for six. Unfortunately the hosts were unable to match the scoring rate set by their opponents, especially in the rapidly-diminishing light. There were positive contributions with the bat from Arjun Bali (17), Deepak Gupta (13), Colin Moran (9) and Matt Diggins (7 not out) but Rainhill finished on 78 for 8 from 100 balls. As an experiment, the event worked well and there appears to be an appetite for similar games next year. Players from both sides enjoyed the occasion, as did umpire Alistair Davies and the mascots - Xanthe, Heidi, Siena and Savanna.

Click here to take a look at the match programme.

Gallery:

Umpire: Alistair Davies Scorer: David Crossley