Second Eleven Secure Comfortable Home Win
The Second Eleven got off to a winning start at home against Haslingden.
Lowerhouse won the toss and elected to field, with the bowlers doing an excellent job of restricting Haslingden to 105 all out in just 28.3 overs. Dec Stansfield led the way with 3 for 17 from 4.3 overs, while Charlie Bithell also took 3 wickets, finishing with 3 for 31 from his 8 overs.
House knocked off the runs in 24.3 overs, losing five wickets along the way. Jack Simm top-scored with a valuable 43.
The result keeps Lowerhouse sitting pretty in second place in the league, five points behind leaders Norden but a huge 48 points clear of third place.
First Eleven Battle to Victory Against Haslingden
The First Eleven had to work hard for another important league victory against Haslingden.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Lowerhouse found themselves in early trouble at 24 for 4. However, some excellent partnerships steadied the innings, with Frankie Haasbroek producing a stunning unbeaten 105 to guide House to 262 for 8 from their 50 overs.
Tom Walker contributed an excellent 49, with Paddy Martin making 25 and Charlie Gansler 22.
Lowerhouse made an early breakthrough in reply, but Haslingden settled and reached 102 for 2 at the 17-over drinks break. It was particularly pleasing to see Charlie Gansler back opening the bowling after a long spell on the sidelines following his foot injury.
A superb spell of tight bowling then put the brakes on the Haslingden innings, with Lowerhouse restricting them to 118 for 3 from 25 overs. Dan Salpietro was particularly impressive during this spell.
Haslingden moved to 148 for 5 with 15 overs remaining, with their professional, Raval, providing the mainstay of the innings on 68 not out. With 10 overs remaining, they had reached 178 for 5 and Raval had moved to 94.
With Haslingden needing around nine runs an over, the wicket of Raval looked increasingly pivotal. The Haslingden professional eventually reached his century before the Golden Arm, Toxy Hussain, was brought back into the attack.
The move paid off. A magnificent diving catch from Paddy Martin at short fine leg brought Raval’s innings to an end and swung the momentum back towards Lowerhouse.
Haslingden required 62 runs from their final seven overs with four wickets remaining. They scrambled hard for the runs and points in their relegation fight, eventually finishing on 240 for 9.
In years gone by, it was usually Lowerhouse fighting at the bottom and Haslingden battling at the other end of the table. Today, the league position told a very different story.
The victory moves Lowerhouse up to third place in the league.
Tom Walker was amongst the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 70 from 9 overs, while Dan Salpietro produced an outstanding spell of 3 for 37 from 15 overs. Toxy Hussain finished with 2 for 51 from his 9 overs.