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Penrith II stayed top of the Premiership in the Eden Valley League following a comfortable win at Staffield.
Staffield had won the toss and asked Penrith to bat on a green home wicket. Some good bowling from Nick Lane and James Cranston had the batting side under pressure early on and had it not been for some good fortune, Penrith could have found themselves in trouble.
However, once Cranston and Lane came out of the attack, Penrith, and Burns in particular, began to find their feet, picking up regular boundaries and beginning to put the pressure on Staffield.
Opener Nicky Birtle went in the 17th over and last week's hero Martyn Challoner soon after that.
As the rain began to fall, Burns, presumably now well accustomed to watching Challoner early departures, carried on regardless, easing first Penrith and then himself past the 100 mark.
He was well supported by flurries from Jonathan Osborne and Jon Ridley (33) until he eventually fell for a very impressive 131 which contained 11 sixes and eight fours.
Jack Robinson also weighed in with some late lusty blows to leave Penrith with a very competitive total of 247-5.
A very good tea and a clearing out of the rain were both very much to Penrith's liking as they took to the field determined to take all six points from what was a strong position.
They had an excellent start removing three of Staffield's top four - including James Cranston for a golden duck - within the first ten overs.
But veteran Stan Lane proved to be a much tougher nut to crack as he and the in-form Chris Tuer dug in and set about rebuilding Staffield's innings.
They did this with very little effort as Tuer raced to yet another half century amongst some uncharacteristically loose Penrith bowling.
However, any realistic hopes of a successful run-chase were shattered within five overs after drinks as first Lane (25) and then Robin Smith and finally Tuer (69) were all removed - the latter by a Kenny Reed bouncer that failed to bounce!!
This left Staffield's long tail-end exposed with a lot of work to do to gain a point from the afternoon. Ridley, sensing the opportunity for some cheap wickets, took the ball and finished with 3-18 as Staffield were bowled out for 130 with 7.2 overs left.
Caldbeck take second spot on their own after beating rivals Carlisle seconds by five wickets. It was a comprehensive win for the home team who dominated in most aspects of the game.
Batting first the visitors lost Hayes early, and found runs hard to come thanks to tight bowling from Pattinson and Benn, the run rate rarely above three in the first 20 overs.
Clarke drew the short straw and bowled from the windmill end which meant anything short was easily despatched to the short river boundary.
Nick Whitfield was the mainstay of the Carlisle innings, and scored 67 before being caught by Todhunter with the score on 105 for 4.
Regular wickets, and the return of Pattinson, saw the visitors advance to 166 for 7 off their allotted overs, with Matt Trickett (34) providing some much needed boundaries, before he became one of four catches to keeper Dickinson.
The tea interval saw both teams contemplating whether 166-7 was an under or over par score.
The Caldbeck openers took the attack to the visitors bowling line-up, and when Steve Blake holed out in the 14th over for 37, the score was already 87.
Jamie Brownrigg continued to punish any wayward bowling and reached his fifty. Mike Taylor (3-30) was by far the most searching of the Carlisle bowlers, but lacked support from the other end.
When Burbury and Brownrigg (60) both fell with the score at 134 the visitors sensed an unlikely opening, but Strong (31no) entertained the large crowd with lusty blows to see the home side easily win in the 29th over with no further wickets lost.
Scotby managed to dodge most of the Fair traffic to win at Appleby seconds by five wickets with 3.2 overs to spare.
Appleby were bowled-out in the final over for 164 with Tom Phillips (34) and Martin Gate (31) the main contributors.
Mark Vasey (3-19) and Ollie Driver (3-37) were the most successful Scotby bowlers.
In reaching 166-5 Scotby were mainly indebted to Andrew Jefferson (78) and Mark Bowen (54). Joe Nattrass took 3-41 for Appleby.
At the other end of the table winless Stainton finally rid themselves of that unwanted tag by beating Edenhall by three wickets despite in mid order collapse which saw them lose seven wickets for twelve runs, with Andrew Gate taking six wickets in four overs.
Stainton managed to open their account in terms of wins in this contest between two sides at the foot of the Premier division.
After eventually managing to win a toss Stainton inserted Edenhall and in conditions to suit swing bowling early on the bowlers capitalised.
It did not take Stew Marshall long and the ninth ball of his opening spell removed the dangerous Matthew Wilson without troubling the scorers. This gave Stainton a much needed lift and they continued the good work with Jack White dismissing Jamie Armstrong with the score on just 11.
Marshall and Whites opening spells were exemplary with Marshall going at one an over and White just two.
Edenhall recovered slightly but were always looking short of a good total on what was a reasonably good pitch. From 67-5 they looked in real trouble and but for a superbly well paced innings of 40 from Andrew Gate they would have been.
He marshalled the tail well but was restricted due to a lack of wickets in hand and when Ruddick came on it seemed like it was going to be a boundary or a dot ball.
Martin Ruddick came on to clean up the tail and with two wickets in his last over did this well. He dismissed the injury hampered Tim Holliday, who still managed to contribute 21, with a wonderful slower ball.
Stainton felt they had bowled and fielded well and having restricted the visitors to 133-9 they were confident of a successful chase.
The run chase started well with Adam Jakeman and Alistair Worth weathering the storm from Gate, and, in particular, Armstrong who can feel aggrieved that he did not pick up a wicket.
The opening bowling spell was too good for the batsmen and they can be thankful that it was too good for the keeper as well with a total of 16 byes, most of them coming early in the piece.
Jakeman and Worth weathered the storm and as the ball got older batting became easier and the pair began to enjoy themselves. The partnership went past 50 in the 15th over and when Worth (36) eventually fell the score was on 92 and most of the leg work seemed to be done.
However, in true Stainton fashion, the result was put in doubt as Jakeman (35) fell shortly after Worth, the loss of both openers sparked a collapse as a change of ends for Gate seemed to do the trick.
Gate ran through the middle order as they folded like the proverbial pack of cards. From an unassailable position at 92-0 Stainton lost seven wickets, including three ducks one of them first ball, for 12 runs and at 104-4, still 30 short it looked a long way off!
Gate’s impressive spell should not go unnoticed as he came back and bowled four overs for two runs and took 6 wickets, including three in one over, at a final cost of only 18.
Jeff Marshall (16no) and Graham Bain (15no) came together to see off the remainder of Gate’s spell and set about putting things right for Stainton and they did so in relatively quick time as they took Stainton home with three wickets to spare.
A huge sigh of relief was let out by all concerned as Stainton managed to keep their hopes of premier division survival alive.
With the whole of Cumbria basking in the weekend heat the only exception in the county appeared to be at Nunwick where overnight rain and the rumble of thunder on arrival put an unexpected question mark on whether or not the game with Braithwaite would be completed.
On a drying pitch the toss would certainly be crucial and therefore inevitably Braithwaite were asked to bat first.
Braithwaite’s recent run machine Mark Oswald got an immediate reality check chipping the ball for a comfortable catch to mid off. After scoring 149 last weekend, he had registered his first duck of the season.
Tight bowling from both Andy Collin and Dougie Parker on a sporting wicket made scoring runs difficult.
However Ian Plant and Phil Knight shared almost a 40 run partnership before Plant (6) gave Adam Collin catching practice at mid wicket.
Knight throughout looked in good touch , particularly as a change in bowlers saw the run rate significantly increase as a 50 run partnership between Harry Rigby(14) and Knight got the visitors into a good position by the half way stage of the innings.
Knight reached an excellent half century and a further stand of 40 plus runs with Lee Zaninetti saw Braithwaite eying up a score in the region of 180.
Knight holed out for a well made 67 as Braithwaite reached 142-5 with six overs to go. Unfortunately for the visitors a procession of “rabbits in headlights” saw them slump to 155 all out as three suicidal run outs allowed Nunwick to be more than just back in the game and probably now saw themselves as favourites to win.
Braithwaite got off to the perfect start with a wicket in the first over.
Tight bowling saw Nunwick batsmen scoring at less than two an over after 10 overs. However after the loss of their second wicket Nunwick began to ease into a strong position as Adam Collin (22) began to pick runs off at will, well supported by John Mounsey (18).
With the game quickly starting to run away from the visitors the slow bowling of Knight got the key wicket of Collin, stumped to a shot he will probably have reoccurring nightmares over.
The wicket proved pivotal as now two new batsmen were at the crease as Braithwaite continued to exert pressure.
Wickets began to fall at regular intervals. However aggressive hitting from both Ed Swale (16) and Duncan Robinson certainly were keeping the home side in the game and with three overs to go just three lusty blows would win the game.
A final excellent two overs from Dan Pyke proved the key and when Kevin Pepper removed Robinson (19) in the final over Nunwick batted out the final three balls to salvage a losing draw on 142-9.
In Division One there was a high scoring game at Shap where Ted Walker scored a century for visitors Culgaith, only to be eclipsed by Steve Percival who did the same, his second century in successive matches.
Established local enthusiasts thought it was one of the best ever matches seen at Shap and with two players scoring centuries and one getting a 65 it was a proper run feast.
Shap won the spin of the coin and asked Culgaith to bat and when they were 71-4, struggling to score runs off tight Shap bowling it looked a good decision.
Nick Scaife scored a solid 40 before being bowled by Sam Wood. This brought ex Stainton player Ted Walker to the crease and he scored a very impressive, and very fast century off around 16 overs and included 11 sixes which were dispatched all around the field.
Two over the railway and one over the swimming pool were three of the biggest sixes ever seen at Shap. Culgaith ended on 204-7 and the tea did not go down well for the Shap players.
Even worse for the home start was their start a run out and a golden duck contribiuted to a 19-3 scoreline.
The odds on Shap winning from that point would have been the same as the odds for “Elvis” being alive and well!. Culgaith were, to say the least, pretty confident at this stage.
Then Mike Allen joined Steve Percival for a stupendous winning stand of 169 runs in 18 overs.
Over after over went for at least 10 runs, with Walker’s first over going for 27. Percival was exacting revenge for Walker knocking 21 off his only over.
With Percival hitting six after six and Allen hitting every bad ball for four, these two players played some remarkable cricket and the Culgaith players’ heads were well down.
Percival scored his second hundred in two weeks and with Allen scoring a brilliant undefeated 65 the game belonged to the home side.
Percival was eventually out for 113, which included 12 sixes leaving Shap needing 17 runs to win.
Dean Johnson joined Allen and won the match with two fours in the 27th over to end the “match of the century” at Shap.
Carleton lost to Baggrow by six wickets after they were bowled out for 115. David Pearson (50) and Peter Henderson (34) did their bit, but there wasn’t a lot else. John Raven took 6-19.
He certainly enjoyed an excellent match because Raven then hit an unbeaten 68 to steer Baggrow to victory at 119-4 in the 27th over.
Wigton seconds drew with Cockermouth thirds after they had made 226 in their 40 overs. The Sandair visitors were 164-8 at the close.
Mark Gillespie (95no) was the mainstay for Wigton, with help from Richard Mattinson (39) while Daz Misra (34) and Richard Wilson (31) batted solidly for Cockermouth.
Les Gillespie and Andrew Taylor each took three wickets for Wigton.
Denton Holme were rolled-over for only 48 in 25 overs aty home to Cockermouth seconds, for whom Tom Morgan (4-1) and Dave Skilbeck (4-12) did the damage.
It took Cockermouth 13.2 overs to reach 52-2 with Andrew Davison top-scoring on 26no.
Kirkby Stephen were comfortable winners over Gamblesby as the home side were bowled-out for 72 in 24.1 overs. Robert Hook took 4-21.
Earlier Kirkby Stephen had set a target of 193-5 with Hook (55) giving valuiable support to Chris Scarr (75no). Ben Crouch took 3-30.
In Division Two Sam Iredale (Patterdale) reached three figures after an excellent bowling performance, as his team moved into second place at the expense of the defeated Arthuret and Esk.
Tony Steele won the toss for Arthuret and Esk and elected to bat but was worried at 25-2 after ten overs before they recovered to score a very creditable 179, losing their last wicket in the 40th over. Opener Edward Faulder was the mainstay of the innings with 58 supported by Paul Booker (23) and Steele (20), although extras was second highest scorer with 27.
Iredale was the pick of the bowlers with 4-17, and he also dominated the Patterdale reply with a magnificent undefeated 115 as the target was achieved in the 37th over.
Patterdale now have the distinction of three stalwarts of the club scoring centuries in successive weeks as Iredale joins Richard Kelso and Malcolm Beaty.
There was a tight game at Temple Sowerby where the home sidejust got the better of Penrith thirds by one wicket.
Carl Holder scored a vital 51 in Temple Sowerby’s winniong response of 128-9 in 37 overs. Mark Lawson took 3-19 for Penrith who had earlier closed on 125-8 in their 40 overs.
Will Tyson top-scored with 39 while James Farmer (4-25) was the most successful home bowler.
Lowther won their home game against Threlkeld by 40 runs after scoring 182-7, led by David Holme (91) and Gavin Cartmel (34no).
Holme also figured with the ball as he took 4-27 and Phil Wharton junior had 3-26. Threlkeld were bowled-out for 142 in 33.2 overs with Ian Brotherton top-scopring on 35.
There was a cracking finish at Appleby where the home thirds beat Great Corby by two wickets with three balls to spare.
Chris Kirkpatrick (60) and Josh Constable (36) were largely responsible forb getting them to 172-8. Neville Lishman took 3-38 for Great Corby.
Mike Tuiffin madfe 48 in Grerat Corby’s total of 171-8 while Phil Little took 4-34 for Appleby.
In Division Three a very warm and muggy Toll Bar welcomed Lanercost (after a brief visit to QEGS) to play Wanderers in what proved to be another run feast.
Wanderers won the toss for the 2nd week running (a quite spectacular achievement in itself) and inserted the visitors.
The Penrith side started brightly, reducing Lanercost to 53-5 in the 22nd over and everything was looking rosy for Wanderers until Australian Chris Vever teamed up with young Ross Wilson.
They put together a marvellous sixth wicket partnership of 101.
The big Aussie scoried at will from some very poor bowling from an out of sorts Wanderers attack, as the extras column will testify.
Vever attacked the boundary at every opportunity, hitting five sixes and eight fours on his way to 82 (the rest of the team only managing three boundaries between them) – eventually falling to a quite brilliant piece of fielding by Tomkins in the deep, running and diving to take a breathtaking catch about an inch off the turf.
This was probably a match-winning catch as Vever was looking very dangerous in the middle, superbly partnered by Wilson who batted with great maturity for his 26no.
After Vever departed with the visitors on 154, others quickly followed and a couple of decent run outs reduced Lanercost to 189-9 from their allotted 40 overs.
Seventeen-year-old Tom Sullivan was the pick of the Wanderers bowlers returning his best ever figures with a fine 5-57.
After the break, Wanderers started positively racing to 27 from the first six overs before opener Hodgson (12) returned to the pavilion.
This brought Wanderers skipper Nigel Fowles to the crease to yet again partner veteran (his uncle David) Bentley in the middle.
This partnership proved a phenomenal combination as both batsmen scored freely but in contrasting styles.
Fowles, on his way to a career-best 93, hiteight sixes and eight fours, despatching numerous balls over the road and into the opposite field while Bentley ran his way to 74 hitting only six foyrs,, the first of which did not arrive until he was on 32.
This excellent partnership was worth a whopping 133 runs, which effectively sealed victory for Wanderers as Fowles was finally out to Vever with the score on 160.
A special mention here to Vever who ran 40 yards to shake the hand of the departing batsman – a great display of sportsmanship from the Aussie all rounder.
Bentley continued to score runs (at least now finding the boundary) but was unable to finish the job as he was caught for 74 with only three more runs required.
Tomkins and Eastham saw Wanderers over the line to celebrate a well deserved six points with seven overs to spare.
Stainton made the trip up to Lanercost in glorious sunshine and put their hosts into bat.
Lanercost made a brisk start with Manish Saxena opening his shoulders in the first over. It was the other end that was a cause for concern as wickets fell regularly with Jack Mitchell (4-14) and Ian Thompson (3-10) doing well.
An impressive fielding display restricted the hosts to 70 with Saxena finishing on 37.
Stainton started their reply in a measured way with captain Roger Holliday. However, after hitting a couple of boundaries he was bowled by Wardlow.
This left Jimmy Ritchie to take centre stage with new bat in hand and it did not take long to test its middle as he attacked the opening bowlers, clearly in no mood to let them settle. He made 34 of a winning reply of 71-3.
Baggrow seconds lost to Caldbecjk seconds on a day marked by hard catches being held and easy ones being dropped.
The visitors won the toss and inserted Baggrow but with the generosity of the fielders John Reynolds (45) and Callum Ward (21) took the score to 58-1.
Then Caldbeck introduiced Ben Tickle (5-19) who quietly worked his way through the Baggrow batting to reduce them to 90-7. A cameo from Tom Smith (29), which included 22 off one Amrik Panesar over, allowed the home side to a half decent total of 142.
Will Brough quickly claimed two of the visiting batsmen, at 47-3, with only Steve Edmondson looking assured, the contest was on.
His half century was littered with boundaries so even when he was dismissed for 53 (in the 20th over) with score at 100-4 the home side required six wickets quick to avoid a rapid defeat.
They got only one as Craig Pattinson (31no) guided the visitors’ home with 57 balls to spare.
Irthing Vale became the first team to take a point off Rockcliffe on the field this season, but failed to put in much of a convincing performance.
Batting first Rockcliffe got off to a steady start, took no chances with their wickets and built up a big total for the first wicket as the Vale bowlers’ struggled to get into any rhythm on a hot sunny afternoon at Brampton.
With plenty of wickets in hand Rockcliffe didn’t start to accelerate the run rate until late on, and a series of dropped catches from Vale assisted them to their final total of 204-6. Willie Wharton (60), Rob Wharton (34) and Ken Coulthard (31) were the leading run-makers.
In reply Vale started reasonably well, but were always behind the run rate. Openers Steve Turner(16) and Mark Ashton(21) were looking settled against some tight bowling from Foster and Jimmy Freebairn.
When Turner was caught at leg slip with the score on 35, and Ashton followed soon Vale then got themselves bogged down and started to slip further behind the run rate.
With 15 overs left and the score at 77 Alan Matthews(12), and Duncan Miller(43) tried to make one final push to get Vale back in with a chance, but when Matthews departed, caught after a big heave to cow corner, Vale put up the shutters and went for the point, finishing on 121-8. Richard Johnston took 5-17.
Penrih Academy beat Nunwick seconds comfortably as they dismissed their visitors for 88 in just 22.3 overs. Jospeh Thwaytes took 3-18 off just four overs while Tim Clasper hit exactly half the Nunwick total and qas undefeated.
Earlier the Academy had made 210-8 in their 40 overs as Chris Birtle (68) and Thwaytes (35) did best. Mark James took 5-56 for Nunwick.
Wigton thirds had a comfortable win over Irthing Vale seconds after Jack Bullock (89no off 100 balls) and James Dixon (84 off 71 balls) had pushed Wigton to 266-6 in 40 overs. Mark Evans chipped in with a more leisurely 43.
Duncan Miller also scored 43 for Vale who were bowled-out for 89 as Nick Hayton (4-20) and Norman Edwards (3-12) did most of the damage.
In a Cup match Baggrow (170-5 – Michael Peile 81) beat Denton Holme (168-7 – Ben Blain 54).
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