11:21am Saturday 8th August 2009
BACK-to-back wins for Kendal sent out the ideal message from a club seeking to reach a showpiece final this Sunday.
The Shap Road men’s three-wicket defeat of Fleetwood was a patient team display in a tricky rain-reduced 35-overs contest in the Furness BS Northern Premier League.
But Kendal know they will probably have to raise their game another notch this weekend.
On Saturday they go to league leaders St Annes, who are feeling the heat after seeing a 20-point lead evaporate to just three points after last weekend’s fixtures double-header.
Sunday’s takes Ross McMillan and his side back to the seaside to Blackpool for the semi-final of the Furness BS League Cup.
To add to the interest, there is the intriguing possibility of a final showdown with Netherfield, whose home semi-final with Darwen has been put back a week because of both clubs’ participation in Twenty20 finals this Sunday.
Batting was always going to be difficult after Saturday morning’s rain and when asked to bat Fleetwood were restricted to 115-9.
The visitors reached 32 before Kendal took three wickets for eight runs. McMillan struck the first blow, having Coultas caught at short extra cover by Parkin.
Eight runs later, two wickets fell in two balls. Hughes got a bottom edge of Kevin Howarth and was caught behind by Donovan Du Plessis.
Then off the first ball of Mcmillan’s next over, South African professional Van Der Dussen also nicked one to the keeper.
Two good diving catches to get rid of Wilson and Clinning from Nick Lewthwaite and Terry Hunte off Stu Parkin’s bowling made 57-5 off 25 overs.
Fleetwood did not capitulate, however, and a sixth-wicket stand of 38 between Shorrocks (26) and skipper Ellis (18) lifted them to 95 when McMillan returned and split them.
He had Ellis caught at mid-off trying to hit over the top and, one run later, he took a return catch to sent Breakall on his way.
Fleetwood finished on 115-9 with McMillan rewarded with 5-39 off his 13 overs.
Kendal were in a spot of trouble in their innings at 27-3 after seven overs.
Openers Howarth and Ashburner could not stick around and McMillan departed for a duck.
Bright spots in an otherwise lacklustre days for batsmen were two partnerships involving Hunte (38), who rallied the home team as he added 31 with Paul Dodds (17) and 19 with Du Plessis (4) before Wilson lifted Fleetwood with two wickets in his first over.
Hunte tried to drive one that stopped and was caught in the covers, while Du Plessis got one that popped off a length and was held at gully.
At 77-6, the verdict could have gone either way. Enter 16-year-old Nick Phillips (14 not out) and Nick Lewthwaite (20), who very coolly worked the ball around and ran well between the wickets.
Their joint contribution of 35 took Kendal to within three runs of victory when Lewthwaite was out, trying to end it with a big hit.
A single and then a two off his leg from Jack White saw them secure the 12 points at 116-7 in the 31st over.
SCOTT Clement bowled himself to a Northern League first-team career-best haul for Netherfield on Sunday.
Bowling unchanged for 25 overs, he captured 7-52 to set up a five-wicket victory over Leyland at the Stanning Road Memorial Ground.
Scott said: “It was one of those days when everything went right.
“I’d had a injury at the start of the season, but felt I’ve been bowling well recently, but perhaps without the luck I had last season when the wickets seemed to come along more regularly.
“I had not bowled for two weeks because I’d been at a wedding in Milan and then Saturday’s game was a washout, so I was feeling pretty fresh.
“The ball was seaming around plenty and after a few overs Chris (Parry) came up and asked me how long I wanted to bowl and I said right away:25 overs.
“I took a couple of wickets almost immediately and then Glen (Batticciotto) took two and it went on from there.
“It was a long stint but I had a cold shower straight after the innings ended, and didn’t feel as bad as I thought I would the day afterwards.”
Clement removed the top three in the Leyland order, with Pakistan professional Ameer Khan one of three victims clean bowled.
Leyland found themselves at 28-4 and it took gritty contributions from Thompson (25), Reece (19) and David Makinson (19) to take them into three figures and to a total of 121 all out with three balls remaining.
Netherfield posted 42 before they lost a wicket, Alex Atkinson going for 20.
There were welcome runs for Chris Parry (29), while Batticiotto batted well for an unbeaten 37, and found good support from Ben Haddrick (24) as the pair added an important 40 for the fifth wicket.
Haddrick’s demise with the score on 109 caused a worrying stutter, especially when a sixth wicket fell on the same score.
However, Oliver Hill (7 not out) provided the stability for the Batticiotto to steer the visitors home at 122-5 in 39.3 overs.
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