Saturday, June 24th - First XI recover to tie with Ainsdale - good results elsewhere

First XI

Ainsdale 175 all out (40.1 overs)

J Dixon 3 for 49, L Spilsbury 3 for 13, A Madhu 2 for 41

Sefton Park 175 all out

P Horton 20, L Spilsbury 28, J Stirling 36 not out

Match tied

Second XI

Colwyn Bay 200 for 8 dec. (44 overs)

M Rafi 5 for 54, M Boyns 2 for 40

Sefton Park 203 for 4 (38.1 overs)

R Supria 31, Deva 23, M Young 68, N Paul 22, L Connolly 37 not out

Sefton Park won by 6 wickets

Third XI

Birkenhead Park 79 all out (40.3 overs)

R Brady 7 for 19, S Rushtom 2 for 10

Sefton Park 82 for 3 (12.5 overs)

S Isaac 25, M Heaney 35

Sefton Park won by 7 wickets

Fourth XI

Sefton Park 207 for 3 dec. (29.5 overs)

J Ledbury 68, R Kennedy 47, C Slater 41, A Zia 36 not out

Northern 56 all out

L Rotherham 4 for 11, J Hague 2 for 2, I Dawes 2 for 4

Sefton Park won by 151 runs

The First XI travelled to Ainsdale with both sides looking for points to improve their league positions.

Ainsdale won the toss and decided to bat first. Sefton took early wickets to put Ainsdale in trouble at 31 for 4 - they recovered to put on 43 runs but lost two wickets on 74. A stand of 50 for the ninth wicket enabled them to reach 175 all out in 40.1 overs. Jimmy Dixon took 3 for 49, Leo Spilsbury 3 for 13 and Ayan Madhu 2 for 41

Sefton's reply followed a similar path to the home side as the found themselves on 38 for 4 with Paul Horton having scored 20 of those runs. Leo Spilsbury scored 28 to take them to 101 for 7 before Ayan Madhu was out for 16 with the score on 134 for 8 with the ninth wicket falling four runs later. As these wickets fell, James Stirling remained firm at the other end and he was joined by Jimmy Dixon with 38 runs still required for a win.

This looked too many, but as they chipped away at the total, the excitement built up until Jimmy went for the winning run and was run out for 16 with the scores level on 175. James Stirling finished with 36 not out off 62 balls.

Sefton's innings ended after 53.3 overs and both sides took away 15 points from a thrilling encounter.

The Second XI welcomed Colwyn Bay to Sefton Park. The visitors won the toss and decided to bat first. After losing a wicket to the third ball, they patiently built up their innings, going on to declare on 200 for 8 in 44 overs. Mohammad Rafi was the pick of the Sefton bowlers, taking 5 for 54. Mark Boyns took 2 for 40.

Most of Sefton's early batters like to go for their shots and so it proved. Rob Supria was first out on 56, having scored 31 off 33 balls, Devadruv Chittaranjan scored 23 and Nathan Paul scored 22 to take the score to 108 for 1 but the best performance came from Matt Young who scored 68 in 68 balls to take the score to 180 for 4. Luke Connolly steered the side to victory with a score of 37 not out as Sefton passed the Colwyn Bay total in the 39th over with four wickets down.

So the Second XI remain top of their league with 186 points.

(above and below) Wickets for Mohammad Rafi in the Second XI victory over Colwyn Bay

(above) A wicket for Tom Spilsbury

(above) Matt Young scored 68

(above) Devadruv Chittaranjan scored 23

(above) Rob Supria scored 31

Birkenhead Park Thirds were the Third XI's opponents on the Lower Ground.

Birkenhead Park batted first and after scoring 15 runs for the first wicket, other wickets fell quickly. They were 21 for 5 and 23 for 7 and then recovered slightly to be all out for 79 in 40.3 overs. With regular wicket taker Chris Mitchell away on honeymoon, it was left to Ronan Brady to step up, taking 7 for 19. Sarhad Rustom took 2 for 10.

In reply, Sefton lost both openers with the score on 4, but Scott Isaac (25) and Mike Heaney (36 not out) enabled Sefton to achieve a 7 wicket victory in just 12.5 overs

(above) A wicket for Ronan Brady who took 7 for 19 in the Third XI victory over Birkenhead Park

(above) Mike Heaney scored 36 not out

(above) Scott Isaac scored 25

The Fourth XI kept up their good form with a visit to Northern to play their Fifth XI.

Sefton won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision that was justified as they went on to declare on 207 for 3 off 30 overs. Skipper Jo Ledbury scored 68, Rob Kennedy 47, Chris Slater 41 and Ahmad Zia 36 not out

In reply, Northern could only score 56 in 25.3 overs with Luke Rotherham taking 4 for 11, James Hague 2 for 2 and Ian Dawes 2 for 4. So a massive win for the Fourth XI by 151 runs.