Cricket review: Rain can’t stop Morecambe victory and a derby success for Torrisholme
Rain made a rare appearance to disrupt Saturday's league cricket programme but couldn't prevent victories for Morecambe in the Northern Premier Cricket League and for Torrisholme in their derby at Lancaster.
Morecambe were seven-wicket winners at home to division two's bottom club Great Eccleston, who posted a challenging 228-6 from 37 overs.
Tyler McGladdery score 64 and Mohammed Fazil 54 as they put on 99 for the third wicket, Lloyd Smith and Sidarth Ahhuja each taking three wickets.
From 56-3 in reply, Morecambe then passed their revised target at 139-3 inside 21 overs thanks to an unbroken stand of 83 between Alex Briggs (42 from 21 balls) and Ahhuja (33)
The weather impacted other games in division two, though all but one reached a conclusion as Morecambe climbed into the top half, one point behind this Saturday's visitors Preston.
It's a double-header weekend in the second tier, with Morecambe at home again on Sunday against Carnforth.
Every match bar one in the Palace Shield Championship produced a winner, including a six-wicket success for second-placed Torrisholme at Lancaster.
The hosts chose to bat and looked unlikely to reach three figures at 69-8 before captain Ben Simm (30) and Hayden Simm (20 not out) took the total to 116-9.
It wasn't plain sailing for Torrisholme in reply as 51-1 became 58-4 but then an unbroken stand of 60 between James Pyle (32 not out) and Jack Batty (30 no) wrapped up victory at 118-4 in 24.3 overs.
The incomplete match involved leaders Heysham at Fylde, enabling Torrisholme to cut the gap at the top to 13 points and move 11 clear of third-placed Fylde ahead of Saturday's trip to Mawdesley, who are two points further back in fourth.
Lancaster slip a spot to eighth, overtaken by Vernon Carus after they overcame Westgate by eight wickets.
In a 27-over contest, visitors Westgate had to settle for 138-6 after Lee Illingworth topped the scoring with 32 and Wes Royle took 4-33.
But the Preston side cruised home at 139-2 in 18.2 overs after an opening stand of 105 between Matthew Timms (62 from 33 balls) and David Fisher, who carried his bat for 54, the pair sharing nine sixes.
Westgate are just a clear of the bottom two and two behind Lancaster going into Saturday's home games. Westgate welcome Burneside, while Lancaster host an Eccleston team immediately above them as just eight points separate fifth from 11th.