Knock Out Cup 1st Round Overview
32 teams have become 16 teams following the first round of the Lancashire Knock Out Cup! Some big scores seen around the grounds with Wigan totalling 323 the highest of the weekend and John Richardson (Wigan CC) scoring 158* to guide them to victory over Rainhill with Vinhay Choudhary bowling a miserly spell of 5 for 7.
Salesbury CC beat Manchester Stallions with Josh Bristol taking 5 for 10 to progress to the next round where they will play Wigan CC. Morecambe CC progress to the next round after beating Merseyside Commonwealth Conference CC by 5 wickets with contributions from a number of the team. Morcambe will face Norden CC in the next round after Norden beat 2022 runners up by 5 wickets, contributions again from a number of players with bat and ball in the side. Clitheroe played Astley Bridge CC and although Lesiba Ngoepe top scored for Astley Bridge with 67, they weren't able to stop Clitheroe's batters with Thomas Lord finishing on 62*.
Reigning Champions Longridge will face Clitheroe after beating Blackrod CC by 74 runs. Matthew De Villiers with 101 (and 4 for 22) and Joshua Mullin 83 the mainstay of Longridge's batting line up and despite Ankit Lamba of Blackrod scoring 122 they weren't able to get to the 297 required. Great Eccleston CC played Westgate CC where they beat Westgate by 7 wickets and progress to play Lowerhouse in the next round. Lowerhouse beat Prestwich by 7 wickets after Joey Hawke took 5 for 33. St Annes CC beat Farnworth CC by 113 runs with Tom Higson leading the way with bat and ball (54 and 3 for 29).
Read CC will face St Annes in the next round after beating Settle, top scorer Minhaj Bhada leading the batting with 63. Josh Boyne of Blackpool CC is our next centurion with 106* leading Blackpool to the win over Denton St Lawrence CC where Arran Lewin took 5 for 37 to seal the win for Blackpool.
A close game between Darwen and Garstang saw the home side Darwen win by just 1 run despite 78 from opening bat Walling for Garstang, Darwen play Blackpool in the next round. Daniel Wilson took 5 for 25 for Northern in their win over Roe Green CC with Northern's batters Tyler McGladdery 83* and 57* for James Cole guiding them home with just 1 wicket down. Despite 4 for 35 and 62 for Andrew Brown of Cheshire Lines CC they were beaten by Farnworth Social Circle CC who progress to play Northern in the next round. Finally Leigh will face Fulwood and Broughton in the next round as they beat Woodbank and Padiham CC respectively.
An uneaten 70 for Sam Dorsey of Leigh saw them overcome Woodbank by 7 wickets. Simon Kerrigan lead the way for Fulwood and Broughton with 98 and another 5 wicket haul by Dom Jackson (5 for 22) saw them beat Padiham by 93 runs. You can see the next round drawn here and all last weekends scorecards can be accessed through the playcricket site. Round 2 will take place on 11th June and the winners will progress through to Quarter Final stage, good luck all!