Prestwich 1XI’s thrilling 8 run win over Little Lever in the Lancashire Cup ensured a first ever appearance in the competition’s last four and a trip to Kendal on the 28th July.
Rain delayed the start and the game was reduced to a 37 over affair in which Prestwich won the toss and elected to bat.
Stuart Els carried his bat with 82 from 103 balls with contributions from Sam Kershaw (50) and Lewis Smith (34) as the home side finished on 186-4.
Further rain interruptions left Little Lever with a revised target of 182 from 33 overs which ultimatley boiled down to 11 required off the last over with a single wicket remaining.
Skipper James Wharmby’s stumping of Gent three balls in (video below) sparked wild celebrations as Prestwich booked their first ever appearance in the last four.
Staying with the Sunday action, there were three other games as the 3XI, 4XI and 5XI all recorded wins.
Adam Taylor’s unbeaten 81 was the highlight of Prestwich Third’s reply over in Heywood, built around solid partnerships with Tom Ward (31) and Nathan Flegg (35*).
This was after the home side finished on 164-7 from their 40 overs, Oscar Ireland the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets while Leo Michaelovitz took 2 stumpings and a catch to take him top of the fielding table for the Sunday Premier Division.
The 7 wicket win sees Nick Carter’s side sit well placed in fourth with games in hand on the two teams directly above.
Adam Taylor in full flow as Prestwich 3XI took the 5 points at Heywood.
Prestwich 4XI moved up to fifth after they triumphed in a low scoring game at Astley & Tyldesley.
Captain Matt Eaves top scored with 34 with runs also from George Neill (24), Liam Potts (17) and Christoper Heys (16) that helped their team up to 125-7 from the allotted 38 overs.
While bats two and three looked to have the home side’s reply under control, their dismissals sparked a collapse as the last five wickets fell for just 23 runs. Potts taking 3-5 and Anis Khaliq 3-25 as Astley & Tyldesley were all out for 103.
Finally on Sunday the Fifth Team enjoyed a 3 wicket win in the Cheshire village of Mobberley.
Winning the toss and electing to field, a promising opening partnership was broken when Ronan Moorhouse took the first wicket with Lucas Alford taking an impressive catch on debut.
Gary Hershcovitch (2-15) and Max Sworder (2-18) were the pick of the bowlers with Sahil Khan picking up a late wicket too. Prestwich rued some mixed fielding which let partnerships form and the hosts setting a decent target of 180 off 30 overs.
Sahil Khan (18) and Nathan Goodman (17) got the chase underway and following a flurry of wickets it was Sworder with a quick fire all boundary 24 that brought the innings to life.
Moorhouse top scored with 52 not out (retired) which included 10 boundaries. His partnership with Hershcovitch (30*) brought the game to an exciting conclusion. Gary initially with Anwar Khan and then Alford finished the game with some quick singles to reach the target with one ball to spare.
That’s now six wins out of eight for the Fifth’s so far this season.
There was high drama too 24 hours earlier as both the Firsts and Seconds gained five points in their respective top of the table encounters.
It was second versus third in Premier 2 as Prestwich 1XI made the trip to Royton.
A 49 run stand in the Royton middle order helped get the home side up to 150 when they were bowled out in the 49th over. Professional Nico Van Zyl did the most damage with 5-45, Charlie Jackson (2-22) and Ryan Maddock (2-27) the other Prestwich wicket takers.
Tom Gibson’s unbeaten 37 anchored the reply while skipper James Wharmby top scored with 41*.
Numerous rain breaks toyed with the DLS numbers but Prestwich managed to stay just ahead of par when the teams left the field for the final time.
Professional Nico Van Zyl claims another Royton wicket.
Back at Heys Road, Prestwich 2XI recovered from the loss of 2 early wickets to post 194 against top of the table Ashton.
A patient 72 from Jack Doyle provided a foundation for the innings with captain Dylan Kane (27), Adam Cheshire (26), Dan Ahern (21) and Sam Baldwin (19) giving the bowlers something to work with.
All looked to be plain sailing for the home side as a steady fall of wickets left the visitors 8 down and 61 runs short of their target.
But a stubborn 9th wicket stand, coupled with a rain delay that left Ashton needing just 15 from 5 overs, put on 50 runs before Hawthorne was finally dismissed by Hassnain Ashfaq.
And when he then bowled his replacement with the very next ball, a fantastic 6 run win was secured.
