Fylde cricket: Blackpool and St Annes bounce back in style

An unbeaten century by opener Kasim Munir was the highlight of Blackpool's 75-run success at Penrith.

The visitors were inserted and set an imposing target of 251-3 as Kasim carried his back for 103, hitting 17 boundaries in a maiden first XI ton.

He found a likely ally in number three Josh Boyne, who struck eight boundaries in his 58.

Penrith's James Bowman then did his utmost to make a chase of it, scoring 67 from 56 balls (11 boundaries) before being run out by Boyne.

The Cumbrians' reply then folded in 41.1 overs at 176, Steven Mercer taking 3-47 from his 13.1 overs.

St Annes were even more emphatic winners, requiring only 15 overs to polish off a nine-wicket success against Leyland.

The visitors were put in and then bowled out for 115 in 37.3 overs, opener Jacob Wright their top scorer with 30.

The wickets were shared around and an even lower total looked likely at 60-6 but St Annes reached their target with minimum fuss.

An unbroken partnership worth 89 between professional Yohan de Silva with 59 (49 balls, 11 boundaries) and Lukman Vahaluwala with 39 (30 balls, seven boundaries) saw them home for the loss of only Tom Higson.

Third-placed Blackpool closed the gap slightly on leaders Garstang, who had to settle for a winning draw at Kendal.

Blackpool have a game in hand but are still 41 points off the pace and so need to make the most of next weekend's home double-header against Kendal and Chorley to keep hopes alive of retaining their crown. St Annes are seven points further back in fourth from a game more.

Lytham suffered only their second defeat of the Liverpool Competition at Spring View, where a declaration backfired and the hosts scraped home with a wicket to spare.

That declaration came at 249-5, after Lytham had chosen to bat and faced 53 overs.

Number five Tom Jefferson hit 11 boundaries in his unbeaten 75 from 86 balls, sharing an unbroken stand of 71 with Matthew McGreehin (32).

A consistent batting display had earlier included two more 50 partnerships and a solid 57 from captain Matt Taaffe.

But the Wigan hosts survived a late collapse to scrape home in 50.2 overs.

It looked like being plain sailing as Buddika Karawgodalage blasted his way to 105 from 111 balls, with 16 boundaries.

Buddika put on 118 for the second wicket with wicketkeeper Nathan Ashford (59) and a further 76 for the third with Suleman Khan (36)

But then 233-3 became 242-9 and Lytham sniffed victory as Toby Lester and Tom Jefferson both took 4-79 before number nine Ben Jukes saw Spring View home. Lytham still top the table by 17 points from Colwyn Bay with five to play.

Top two Fleetwood and Great Eccleston both had five-wicket wins in the Moore and Smalley Palace Shield.

Fleetwood visited Croston, who chose to bat and reached 141-8 (Max Harper 42) as Declan Clerkin and Jack Wilkinson took three wickets apiece.

Atiq-uz-Zaman then carried his bat for 80 with 11 fours, meaning it mattered little that no-one else scored more than 10 in the visitors' 142-5 in 31.1 overs.

Great Eccleston dismissed Euxton for 86 as Jim Procter took 5-25 and Phil Booth 3-46, both from 11 overs. Victory was sealed at 90-5 from 27.3 overs, Mohamed Nadeem making 23.

Morecambe edged a thriller against Kirkham and Wesham by just one wicket. Andrew Hogarth scored 52 in an opening stand of 89 with Michael Brooks (32) but K&W were then all out for 145 in 43.1 overs.

Fazian Ghumman then scored 56 for the hosts but it was an unbeaten 23 from number 10 Lloyd Smith which sealed the match at 146-9 in 38.3 overs.

Thornton Cleveleys were beaten by eight wickets at home to Torrisholme, having been dismissed for 137 in 42.3 overs (Jon Eade 38) as Matthew Cline and Jack Heap bagged four victims each. The visitors won it inside 30 overs at 139-2 as Dan Woods carried his bat for 68.

Fylde won by five wickets at Grimsargh in division 1A, opener Will Smith scoring an unbeaten 103 and sharing an unbroken stand of 115 with Andrew Walsh (44) as the visitors overhauled 221-6.

Adam De Gray Birch's 5-39 set second-placed Wrea Green on their way to a three-wicket win at Ingol with Freckleton (165) in division two, while Norcross chased down Torrisholme 2's 110 with three wickets to spare.