Lancaster CC hang on to draw against Leyland

They took three points against Leyland at Lune Road in a match which ended with Lancaster’s last-wicket pair frustrating the visitors’ attack.

Leyland had won the toss on Saturday, opted to bat first and reached 216-8 once their 50 overs came to a conclusion.

Openers Jacob Wright and James Rounding had both reached 18 before they were dismissed by Liam Moffat.

James Critchley (2) was removed by Ben Simm but Nasir Nawaz and Karl Cross put them in a good position.

Nawaz made it to 54 and Cross struck 42 before they both fell victim to Simm.

He also accounted for Nathan McDonnell, while Lancaster skipper Jamie Heywood sent back Andrew Makinson (4).

Andrew Jacques and Iain Critchley both contributed runs down the order, hitting 36 and 18 not out respectively.

Heywood dismissed Jacques but Ben Weaver finished seven not out at the close.

Simm led the Lancaster attack, picking up 4-55, while Liam Moffat took 2-44 and Heywood 2-58.

Lancaster’s reply began poorly with openers Faizan Khan (2) and Eddie Steinson (3) falling to Cross and Jacques respectively.

The rest of the top order began to rebuild, though McDonnell worked his way through the remainder of the top six.

He dismissed Laurie Atkinson (14), Irfan Khan (40), Heywood (38) and Steven Fisher (12) to leave Lancaster up against it.

Nawaz then ran through the lower order, removing Kieran Moffat (5), Jack Lord (1) and Liam Moffat (8).

However, Simm was able to withstand Leyland’s attack as he finished 19 not out, supported by Lee Sparks who hadn’t scored as they finished on 157-9.

McDonnell finished with 4-54, while Nawaz claimed 3-26, Cross 1-17 and Jacques 1-26.

It means Lancaster have only won one of their last eight league matches, leaving last year’s runners-up in need of a victory sooner rather than later.

Next up for them is another home match on Saturday when they host Penrith, whom they defeated in the reverse fixture at the start of May (12.30pm).