Spirited performance in Liverpool defeat
4th XI lose to Liverpool despite positive performance
Rainhill 94 (Arjun Bali 16, Colin Moran 16; Sam Fell 3-20) Liverpool 95-5 (Paul Sawbridge 40*, Andrew Disley 15*, Arjun Bali 3-17) Liverpool (20 pts) beat Rainhill (3 pts) by 5 wickets Scorecard The 4th XI lost to a talented Liverpool side at Victoria Terrace on Sunday afternoon, but gave a good account of themselves in a game in which there were several positives for the home team. Put into bat by the visitors, Rainhill's opening pair of stand-in captain Colin Moran and Andy Jones put on 26 before the first wicket fell. Jones was first out, held by Noah Pauls of Luca Nutton's bowling. Moran then began to build a partnership with Chirag Shroff but, when it looked like the pair had played themselves in, Moran was bowled by Sam Fell for 16. Shroff fell lbw to the same bowler shortly afterwards From 42 for 1, Rainhill slumped to 49 for 5 as Fell picked up another wicket - bowling Vinny Varghese for 4 - and Vedu Garikipati struck to remove Naithan Varghese. Kieran Rose was next out, trapped lbw by Garikipati for 3. Arjun Bali (16) provided some much-needed resistance and a few runs, as did Jack Tyms who finished unbeaten on 12. Owen Morrisey hit a nice boundary but Rainhill weren't quite able to post a three figure target. Jack Tyms and Arjun Bali opened the bowling for Rainhill, who had some early success. Tyms took the wicket of Ben Gilbert, who was expertly caught by Chirag Shroff, while Bali's relentless accuracy claimed three victims (two bowled, one lbw) as the visitors were reduced to 19 for 4. Things got between for Rainhill when Andy Jones found a way through to Sam Fell's pads and Liverpool were on 28 for 5. Suddenly Rainhill felt they may be able to claim a remarkable result. However, Liverpool had time on their side and captain Neil Disley (15 from 50 balls) and Paul Sawbridge (40 from 44) were able to navigate their way to the target without further loss. Rainhill deserve great credit for the way they approached the game and their effective bowling against Liverpool's top order.