Kendal 116

Morecambe 51-7

Winning draw to Kendal

Chorley Building Society Northern Premier League

KENDAL were ultimately left disappointed from their game against Morecambe after rain at the end of the match left them unable to claim their first 15-point success of the season.

In horrendous cricket conditions, the top order batsmen once again let Kendal down as they found themselves 60-8 before Nick Lewthwaite and Chris Miller dug in for Kendal.

Before that, Morecambe won the toss and unsurprisingly put Kendal in to bat on a very windy day, with play stopped three times during the course of the match due to heavy showers.

Darren Braithwaite was asked to open with Ryan Nelson, but that experiment only lasted until the second over, when Braithwaite clipped a Richard Cupit ball to pro Vishal Tripathi at slip for two, leaving Kendal 4-1.

Sub-pro Michael Price and Nelson put on 23 before the opener was bowled in the 12th over by Cupit, who went on to claim a six-wicket haul.

Terry Hunte needlessly ran himself out for three in the 17th over when attempting to get the third run after a lovely shot to his off side, and at 36-3, Kendal gained just two runs for the loss of three wickets.

In the 18th over Darren Moore’s off stump was bowled by Cupit, while he struck again two overs later when Jack White’s leg stump went tumbling.

Shane Hyland was bowled LBW for a golden duck as Cupit struck again, leaving Kendal 38-6.

But a determined Lewthwaite raised cause for his promotion up the order with a very determined and gritty 35 off 73 balls.

Price was caught by wicketkeeper and captain Lewis Edge off star man Cupit for 25 in the 26th over, while Adam Cowperthwaite could only add one run to the toal to leave the home side 60-8 when Miller entered proceedings.

Lewthwaite and Miller showed the top of the order how to do it with a superb 56-run, ninth wicket partnership to boost their side’s score to 116, with Lewthwaite striking three fours and playing a great array of shots.

They kept themselves in for 23 overs just to give their bowlers a target to aim for, and Miller’s determined 18 off 51 balls helped matters considerably before he was caught by Yakub Bhamji off Tripathi in the 43rd over.

Lewthwaite was caught by Ryan Pearson off Tripathi for the final wicket having socred 35 to give Kendal a total to defend of 116.

It was the seventh over when Kendal first began to make inroads into the Morecambe batting, with Cowperthwaite proving his form by dismissing Josh Dixon for four.

The ninth over was excellent for Cowperthwaite, with Ryan Pearson’s off stump first bowled out for seven and Tom Barnfield (nought) clipping to Miller at slip to leave the visitors facing down the barrel at 13-3.

Lewis Edge only scored two runs before he was caught by wicketkeeper Hyland off White for two to put Morecambe 20-4, and the collapsed continued when Tripathi was dismissed for five in the 15th over.

The rain interrupted play at 37-5 in the 16th over, but no sooner had they returned to play when Gareth Pedder was caught behind for nought to make it 37-6.

Ryan Smith was showing signs of resistance for Morecambe, but when he was run out for 19 in the 23rd over, leaving the visitors 48-7, Kendal had a sniff at victory.

But in the 25th over with the scores at 51-7, the rain came down and failed to stop for the remainder of the day, meaning that Kendal were forced to accept a six-point winning draw from the match.