Sunday team in Prestwich win
Low-scoring match ends in 2-wicket victory
Prestwich 105 (Jamal 23, G Safi 18; Paul Millar 4-9)
Rainhill 106-8 (Neil Robinson 26, Oliver Powell 26; A Reed 2-18)
Rainhill beat Prestwich by 2 wickets
Rainhill's Sunday team ran out winners in a low scoring match against Prestwich at Victoria Terrace.
Batting first, Prestwich got off to a miserable start as Paul Millar's pace and accuracy proved too much for their top order. The top four batsmen - Compton, Adams, Regan and Orrell - all were out quickly and Prestwich were struggling on 15 for 4.
Reed and Mullin then led something of a fightback, putting on 25 runs for the fifth wicket. Their stand was ended when Steve Bell bowled Mullin with tHE score on 40. 40 for 5 quickly became 41 for 6 when Oliver Powell trapped Minor lbw for 1. Bell took his second wicket when he dismissed Reed, who had played positively to reach 14.
At 49 for 7, it looked as if Prestwich might be blown away, but Jamal (23) and Safi (18) were able to dig in and play some shots to help take the score beyond 100. Safi hit a couple of sixes in his entertaining innings. Jamal was eventually run out by Adam Lawler while Safi was bowled by Powell. The final wicket was picked up by Stevie Pennington, who bowled Krish Patel for 1.
Prestwich were all out for 105 from 34.3 overs but, given the weather, it was decided to play out the full 40 overs. This allowed Nathan Lawler from the under-11s to bowl three overs during which he took three wickets.
In response Rainhill were able to score quickly but frequently lost wickets. Ethan Powell, Matt Lawler and Stevie Pennington were all out early, leaving Rainhill on 23 for 3. Oliver Powell (26) and Neil Robinson (26) put on 51 for the fourth wicket but, after Robinson was caught by wicketkeeper Adams, Rainhill suffered a collapse as four wickets fell for eight runs.
Steve Bell and Adam Lawler were able to steer Rainhill to the target and a two-wicket victory in an eventful match. Many thanks to Prestwich for their contribution to a great game.
Photos by Kerry Lawler