Norley Hall topple league leaders to boost title hopes

Norley Hall Cricket Club gave their hopes of winning the Liverpool competition second division title a major boost at the weekend.

They toppled previous leaders Southport Trinity to move into second in the table - 10 points behind new table toppers Parkfield Liscard.

It was a terrific blowing display which paved the way for the seven-wicket victory as Trinity, who slip to third in the table, were routed for just 92.

Captain Callam Hughes was the executioner-in-chief with 5-44 and there were two wickets apiece for Liam and Callum Martlew.

In reply, Colin Parrott (48) and Harry Singh (34) did the bulk of the run-scoring to ease their side to victory.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl, Hughes struck a key blow in the first over of the game when he clean bowled his opposite number Mark Foster.

This set the scene for a chaotic period of play as the visitors succumbed to a disastrous run out and then an excellent catch from keeper Matthew Hayes off a bottom edge from the bowling of Hughes to leave the score 10-3.

When key batsman he Australian Liam Sheriff was dismissed via an excellent catch in the slips from Robert Collier off the bowling of Liam Martlew, at 10-4 it was very much advantage to the home team.

The visitors did show some resistance but the home team were determined to press home their advantage. At drinks, the visitors were 90-7 and looking like they may post a tricky chase for the home team.

However, an excellent stumping from Hayes off the bowling of Callum Martlew, saw the visitors tail fall quickly after that.

The home team reply got off to a disastrous start when Alex Martlew was run out early in the innings. For a while after that, the game entered a bit of a stalemate period as runs were not coming quickly.

However, Parrott and Singh knew what they were doing as, after a watchful period, runs started to flow more easily – a good assessment of the game situation from both batters.

Agonisingly, Parrott was dismissed for 48 with only two runs needed for victory and his half century achievable.

When Singh was then bowled for 34, it was left to Hayes and Shah Afridi to steer Norley to victory.

Also on Saturday, the second team made the trip to North Wales to play top of the table Northop Hall.

Batting first, despite losing an early wicket, Steve Atkinson (27) and William Heyes (28) had built a strong platform for the rest of the batting line-up.

However, the team’s familiar failing of a middle and lower order collapse happened again as they were all out for 122 in 44.2 overs.

When home team key batter Michael Williamson was dropped early on, the home team cantered to a seven-wicket victory in only 26 overs.

There was a wicket for Heyes and two for the returning Haroon Naseri.

On Sunday, the Nighthawks women’s team concluded their inaugural league season with a game away at Rainford. The home team batted first and were restricted to a net score of 207 with nine wickets falling.

There were three wickets for Natalie Martlew and Shannon McCormick with two wickets for Georgia Magrath.

In reply, the Nighthawks won by 113 runs as they posted a net score of 320 off the back of losing no wickets. Skipper Martlew was top scorer with 31 and McCormick completed an excellent all-round performance with 13.

This victory secures promotion to a higher league in their first league season - an excellent achievement.

It also leaves them joint top of the league with Ainsdale as they await clarification from the league on the net run rate calculation to see whether they go up as champions or in second place.

On Friday night, the T20 team welcomed Orrell to City Road as they concluded their Wigan Big Bash T20 campaign.

Asked to bat first, key batters Afridi (22) and Matthew Hayes (23) both got starts and looked capable of the innings required if the hosts were going to post a challenging total.

When both were out in the 20s however, it needed other batters to step up if the home team were going to make a game of it against an opponent from two divisions higher in the Liverpool Competition.

Alex Martlew did just that as he showed impressive boundary hitting capability on the back of his recent breakthrough T20 half-century at Spring View.

Unfortunately, Alex was disastrously run out for 35 from a direct hit from near the boundary attempting a second run. Pleasingly, William Heyes then took up the mantle as he hit 24 from only 16 balls.

Norley Hall eventually finishing on 138-8. Whilst the total was better than what had appeared possible at one stage, many felt that it was insufficient to seriously challenge the visitors’ batting line-up.

This looked to be the case when their opening partnership sauntered to a century opening stand relatively untroubled.

However, there is no game like cricket for a game turning on its head in a short period of time.

The introduction of Afridi (4-15) into the bowling attack proved vital as he dismissed both opening batters as well as the visitors’ No.3.

At 110-3, and with only 29 runs needed for victory with seven wickets left, the visitors were very much still in the driving seat with regards to the outcome of the game.

However, what any Green and Gold team should not lack is fighting spirit and the pride in the badge to always make the opposition work hard for any victory no matter how forlorn the situation.

Skipper Hayes held his nerve in a tense situation and used his bowlers effectively alongside some intelligent field placings.

What followed delighted all at the ground from a Green and Gold persuasion as Heyes (3-17) and Liam Martlew (3-37) backed up the inroads made by Afridi with accurate bowling as wickets started to tumble.

Going into the last over, the visitors needed eight runs to win with one wicket left. Liam Martlew took care of business as he sealed an unlikely victory with four balls to spare. Orrell all out for 131 in 19.2 overs.

Unfortunately, this is the end of the teams Wigan Big Bash campaign as they frustratingly failed to qualify for the Finals Day on the net run rate calculation - not helped by the recent concession of an opponent meaning there was no chance to potentially improve their net run rate calculation.

However, this has been a much improved T20 season for the team under the captaincy of Hayes and undoubtedly helped by better availability and commitment from senior players.