Mixed weekend for Garstang CC

Mark Walling’s men missed the chance to close the gap on the Northern League’s top four after going down by two runs against Leyland on Saturday.

Having seen his men dismiss Leyland for 161, the skipper led by example in Garstang’s reply but was left stranded on 74 not out when Alasdair Egerton (1) was their last man out with the score on 159.

Henry Thompson was arguably the day’s key figure as, having seen fellow opener Tom Reece (2) out cheaply, he struck 46 and put on a good partnership with Umar Waheed, who top-scored for Leyland with 63.

He fell victim to Travis Pieters, who took a hat-trick on his way to figures of 5-29, while Ian Walling ended with 4-51.

Garstang’s reply saw the top three of Pieters (13), Fayaz Ughradar (5) and Michael Wellings (0) all dismissed early on.

Mark Walling held the innings together despite seeing wickets fall all around him.

Coen Oosthuysen (2) was next to go, followed by Matthew Crowther (9) and Ian Walling (17).

Tom Wells (6) and Muhammad Bilal Liaqat (1) were both out to leave Garstang eight wickets down but Naqib Rahman provided his skipper with good support.

That ended when he was out for 15, becoming Thompson’s fourth wicket, before the same bowler secured victory with the dismissal of Egerton to end with 5-51 in addition to his earlier efforts with the bat.

The day after, though, brought a five-wicket win against Preston in the league’s Benchmarx Kitchens and Joinery Trophy.

Preston batted first and were all out for 102 as Ian Walling claimed 3-12 with Oosthuysen (2-25) and Pieters (2-19) also among the wickets.

In reply, Garstang reached 105-5 as Pieters top-scored with 39 and Oosthuysen added a further 19.