Carlisle push Furness but lose out in a rain-shortened game at Edenside

Heavy lunchtime showers reduced the game to 30-overs each, starting at 3.30pm with home skipper Marc Brown winning the toss and asking Furness to bat first.

With Nathan Waterston and Mark Daly oozing class, the visitors looked set for a comfortable afternoon.

But that was before the mercurial talents of Alex Raybould entered the fray. Raybould bowled with control and clever variations of pace to help reduce Furness to 94-6 before a late assault lifted Furness’ score to 167.

Ben Davidson and James Lythgoe began the reply with authority and aggression, cutting and driving hard as Carlisle kept the asking rate within reach.

But once wickets began to fall, the rate began to creep up and the double loss inside four balls in one Mark Daly over of Brown and Justin Greaves deflated the Carlisle chase.

Furness gave clear evidence of the standards required to win championships, with a near faultless display in the field that included two in particular outstanding catches.

Carlisle continued to try to hit their way towards Furness’ total, but the wide open spaces of Edenside made boundary hitting extremely difficult and the chase eventually dried up on 138 all out in the final over.

Afterwards, Carlisle skipper Marc Brown said: “It just shows how important those one-per-centers are.

"They took two really good catches that were going for four. They go for eight and it’s a different game.

“I blame myself, I should have been there 70 not out, batters need to finish the game.

“But on a positive note, we took a top team close and our young players are showing promise.”

Having first knock the Cockermouth top order showed their best form of the season, against Dalton, and were 180 for 7 when overs ran out.

Ian Buchanan, 38, Alex Grainger, 37, and Gareth White 33, were the main contributors. Dalton’s Adnan Malik took 5 for 59 in his 15 overs.

Rain reduced Dalton’s target to 177 in 48 overs. Opener Jack Singleton, with 31, was the only top-order batsman to make a score, but skipper Liam Curwen, batting at number 7, made 45 with two fours and four sixes, and number 9, Jon Bell with 23, made a great effort to get the win. But Dalton just fell short, and were all out for 164 in 37 overs. Chris Hodgson took 5 for 63 in his 15 overs.

In a reduced overs game at Wigton, Keswick had first knock and had a poor afternoon, with Andy Rigg top-scoring with 24, in an all out total of 98. Glen Liddle bowled his 15 overs taking 6 for 49.

Wigton’s target was reduced to 90 for the win. Opening pair, Nico Watt, 54 not out and Mike Slack, 32 not out, saw Wigton to a 10-wicket win, at 92 without loss.

In Division One, Lindal Moor decided to bat first against Haverigg and had to work hard for runs, with Paul Wilcock top scoring with 38 and were 149 for 9 in 44 overs. Tomas Hawdon again impressed with the ball to take 6 for 34 in 11 overs.

Haverigg would be more than disappointed with their batting display losing wickets regularly, half the side were out for 19. Simon Bickerstaffe with 25 not out led a slight recovery, but the Poolsiders were all out in 26.1 overs for 78. Lindal Moor’s pro Kenroy Peters took 6 for 25 in 13 overs and skipper Edward Waind, 3 for 20 in 5.1 overs.

Put it to bat by Ulverston, the Vickerstown openers put on 71 for the first wicket, Sam Dixon making 47 and skipper Gareth Benson, 29. However, 71 for 1 soon became 91 for 6 and it was left to John Burns with 27 and Peter Lee, 22 not out, to get Vickerstown a defendable 158 all out in the 45th over. Daffyd Griffith, 3 for 16 in 3.3 overs, and Gareth Yates 3 for 39, and Shane Lewis 3 for 59, each bowling 15 overs, did an excellent job for Ulverston.

With the bat, Ulverston were rocking at 43 for 3, but Shane Lewis at number 5 made a match-winning 55 not out as Ulverston made 159 for 7 in the 39th over. Vickerstown skipper Gareth Benson took 4 for 49 in 14 overs and Mark Roskell, 3 for 39 in 9 overs

In first against Millom, Whitehaven lost an early wicket but 47 from opener Dom Chambers and 34 from the pro Mohammad Yasin helped their side to 155 all out. Millom’s Graham Dawson returned 4 for 12 in 11 overs.

After losing a quick wicket, Millom’s pro Sameera Sadamal with 49, and skipper Ian Swarbrick with 39, put Millom in a winning position, but the rest of the side only made 36 runs to be all out for 134 in the 31st over.

Winning the toss and batting, Workington soon lost both openers to Danny Lee, but a stand of 103 by Liam Hazzard with 61 and Callum Sutton with 53 saw their side to 170 for 8 when overs ran out. Steve Brown snr took 3 for 46 in 10 overs.

Seascale made a dreadful start and were in deep trouble at 36 for 6. A battling 33 from Danny Lee brought about a slight recovery, but Seascale could only total 93 for 9. David Pearce took 6 for 37 in 13 overs.

In Division Two, in first, Hawcoat Park were all out in 43 overs for 168 against Dalton, mainly due to James Grimshaw’s innings of 57.

In reply, Dalton lost wickets regularly to be all out in the 25th over for 66, Callum Lucas returning 6 for 34.

Egremont got off to a good start against Kirkby, Shaun Bostock making 44, and his opening partner, Coady Scott, 39.

However, the remaining batting struggled somewhat and at tea were 166 for 9. Kirkby’s Pat McCormack taking 4 for 25 in 7 overs and Mike Etchells, 3 for 32 in 13 overs.

A weakened Kirkby side were soon in trouble, and Mike Etchells with 36 was top-scorer, as Kirkby were all out for 127 in the 31st over.

Egremont’s Sam Thompson took 5 for 32 in 8 overs.

In Division Three, batting first against Egremont A, Haverigg were very much indebted to James Newton.

The home side lost both openers for five runs and coming in at number three, Newton was 127 not out when overs ran out with Haverigg having 188 for 7 on the board.

In reply, Egremont lost two early wickets, but a good stand by Owen Thompson who made 51 and Sam Farrar with 31, improved matters but with nobody else getting double figures. Egremont were all out for 120 in the 40th over.

Haverigg bowled well, Anthony Johnson taking 3 for 21, Sam Huddleston, 3 for 22, and Matty Jackson 3 for 41.

After losing three early wickets very cheaply against Whitehaven A, it was left to Vickerstown’s Joshua Francis who made 61 not out with seven fours and Mark Humphries giving good support with 35, to help the Walney side to 129 for 5 in their 40 overs.

Whitehaven’s opening bowler, Guy Pattinson took 4 for 23 in his 10 overs.

After tea, the visitors made a steady start, with opener Charlie Minshaw top-scoring with 40 and Whitehaven went to the win in the 26th over making 130 for 7.

Arnie Luxon with 3 for 24, and opening bowler, Ben Spencer, 3 for 45 did a good job for Vickerstown.

Mohammad Yasin took 5 for 39 and Habib Baloch 4 for 47, each bowling 12 overs.