2nds and Recreationals win, 1sts earn frustrating draw and 4ths narrowly lose
1st XI v Northern (A)nnNorthern 168-8 (Jac Kennedy 51, Liam Grey 44; Khalid Usman 5-42)
Rainhill 135-2 (Ross Higham 50, Billy Godleman 41; Daniel Wilson 2-50)nNorthern (4 pts) drew with Rainhill (6 pts)
Scorecard
Rainhill were once again frustrated on their travels as rain deprived them of a near certain victory over high-flying Northern.
Northern won the toss and elected to bat. Rain delayed the start of the match by over an hour, but the hosts started well and looked in control at 100 for 1 despite not scoring as quickly as they’d have liked. However, Northern slipped to 137 for 4 and, despite a useful fifth wicket partnership from Ben Edmundson and Chris Laker, lost four wickets for three runs to close their innings on 168 for 8.
Khalid Usman bowled very effectively for Rainhill, reducing the scoring rate and taking five wickets. Jack Lowrie bowled superbly in his second spell and finished with figures of 3 for 39.
With rain in the air Billy Godleman and Ross Higham made an excellent start moving the score to 66-0 before a rain break resulted in another hour being lost. Play resumed and Higham was able to record his second half-century of the season while Godleman fell for a fluent 41. Despite a rapid 32 from Khalid Usman, including 4 huge sixes, RCC finished on 134 for 2.
There was little doubt the rain break stole an almost certain victory but Rainhill can be proud of the performance against a very strong side.
2nd XI v Wavertree (H)
Wavertree 167 (John Daulby 70, Edward Hopkins 26; Sam Addy 3-41)
Rainhill 168-9 (Aidan Calarco 52, Vish Maheshwari 39; Edward Hopkins 4-14)
Rainhill (20 pts) beat Wavertree (8 pts) by 1 wicket
Scorecard
Rainhill’s 2nd team were made to work for victory in a thrilling match at home to Wavertree.
Wavertree were put into bat and a solid opening partnership between John Daulby and Edward Hopkins added 61 before Stevie Pennington made the breakthrough. Aside from Daulby, who went on to make a valiant 70, the rest of the visitors’ top order struggled and Wavertree slipped to 71 for 4. Sam Addy and Vish Masheswari took three wickets each Wavertree were bowled out for 167.
Rainhill lost the early wicket of Panchu Xavier but Vish Masheshari and Ethan Powell scored quickly and shared a valuable partnership worth 57. Aidan Calarco hit a magnificent 50 from 34 deliveries to put Rainhill in a strong position. However, the introduction of Edward Hopkins turned the game around and he took the key wickets of Calarco, Paul Millar, Sam Addy and Matt Lawler as Rainhill collapsed from 157 for 5 to 166 for 9. John Ball joined Stevie Pennington at the crease with Rainhill requiring two runs for the win and the visitors needing just a wicket. It went right down to the wire but Ball and Pennington were able to see Rainhill over the finish line.
Recreationals v Hightown St Mary’s (H)
Rainhill 112-8 (Matt Lawler 53, Richard Appleton 15; Gabriel Kornish 2-8)
Hightown St Mary’s 108-8 (Jailaksh Ramaiah 50*, Oliver Morrin 11; Dave Brennan 2-42)
Rainhill beat Hightown St Mary’s by 4 runs
Scorecard
A half-century from Matt Lawler helped Rainhill Recreationals to their first win of the season in another close match at Victoria Terrace.
Lawler hit an unbeaten 53 – his first 50 since joining the club – as he provided the backbone of Rainhill’s innings.
Rainhill opted to bat first and scored steadily but not rapidly. Due to rain the game was reduced to a 30 overs affair and Rainhill managed to reach a creditable 112 for 8. A fourth-wicket partnership of 41 between Lawler and Richard Appleton put Rainhill in a great position before a flurry of late wickets.
Finnlee Millar took an early wicket for Rainhill when he bowled the dangerous-looking Aimee Conlan-Bloor for 4. However, Jailaksh Ramaiah was not only determined to stay in but played some excellent shots on the way to a half-century of his own. He survived several appeals but played with both fluency and aggression.
Hightown St Mary’s lost wickets but were always in the game and the pairing of Vicky Cobain and Oliver Morrin moved Hightown within touching distance of the required total. Needing 16 from the final three overs, they fell just short despite the efforts of captain Saravanan Ramaiah who hit 10 from 5 balls before he was run out by Simon Gibson. Some terrific performances in the field to cut off boundaries and restrict runs – especially from our junior players – were instrumental in securing a four-run victory.
4th XI v Bootle (A)
Rainhill 87 (Ollie Unsworth 36, Nathan Lawler 24; Albert Freeman 5-34)
Bootle 88-7 (Arthur Cook 19, Paul Jones 16; Sarah Curlett 5-19)
Bootle (20 pts) beat Rainhill (4 pts) by 3 wickets
Scorecard
An incredible spell of bowling from Sarah Curlett was not enough to secure victory the Rainhill’s 4th team in a low-scoring match at Bootle.
Sarah took 5 for 19 as she ripped through Bootle’s top order, reducing the hosts to 16 for 5 as they pursued a target of 88.
Despite the difficult start to Bootle’s innings, Paul Jones and Arthur Cook were able to steady the ship and despite Nathan Lawler claiming two victims Bootle were able to chase down the target with three wickets in hand.
Earlier, Rainhill were all out for 87 with only Nathan Lawler (24) and Ollie Unsworth (36) making significant contributions.