Furness have been left as the only team with three wins from three games in the Cumbria Cricket League’s Premier Division.
Two other teams from the south of the county suffered their first defeats – Millom at Cleator and Dalton against Lindal Moor.
Furness beat Whitehaven at the Playground by six wickets to retain their 100 per cent record and they now lead the Cumbria Cricket League by six points from Carlisle and Workington.
Whitehaven chose to bat after winning the toss, and apart from opener Jonathan Stewart (25) and professional Safyaan Sharif (36no) nobody else reached double figures.
With the help of 28 extras, however, Whitehaven were able to top three figures but as they were bowled out for only 104.
Jordan Buchanan was the main tormentor, taking 5-15 from just 8.4 overs while professional Sachith Pathirana claimed 3-25 from his allotted 15 overs.
Furness were not entirely convincing in their reply but did enough for victory on 107-5 with Mark Daly (22) and extras (25) the main contributors. Veteran Habib Baloch took 3-23) and Sharif (2-53) shared the wickets.
Millom’s winning run came to an end at Cleator where they were comprehensively beaten, bowled-out for 67 chasing the home side’s 186-9. David Blackwell was the match winner for Cleator, taking 8-21 from 13.2 overs. Mike Gill top scored for the visitors with 23.
Tom Sharp (64) and David Watson (53) formed the backbone of the Cleator innings. Braith Conner took 5-48 for Millom.
Dalton also suffered their first setback when they went down by six wickets at Lindal Moor.
Several Dalton batsmen made decent starts but Jordan Woodend (37) finished as the leading scorer in an all-out total of 206.
Jack Cumberbatch was Lindal’s most successful bowler taking 3-20.
In reply Lindal had 5.1 overs to spare when they reached 207-4, largely due to a big-hitting performance from professional Janith De Silva.
He only faced 51 balls but hit eight sixes and a four on his way to an impressive 71 not out which turned the game Dalton’s way. Opener Ryan Gilmour made 70 in an anchor role.
Workington defended a modest total at Wigton to collect their second win of the season.
Asked to bat first, Workington lost a couple of early wickets before Grant Reid and Callum Sutton took the score to 92. Reid went for 46, followed by Sutton, 45, and the innings closed on 134.
Ben Purdham (4-34) and Glen Liddle (3-33) were the most successful bowlers for Wigton.
Wigton lost skipper Nico Watt in the first over and the reply never really gained momentum with saw wickets falling regularly. Club pro Chris Hodgson, with a patient 23, anchored the innings but he was out at 70-6 and only Purdham (20no) caused any real obstacle for the Workington bowlers. Matt Lowden had 4-21 and Dan McDermott took 3-30 with extras (25) top-scoring for Wigton.
Champions Cockermouth were well in control against Keswick but still needed the Duckworth Lewis method to win.
Keswick always struggled after being put in to bat and were eventually bowled out for 122 in 46.3 overs with opener William Atkinson top-scoring with 27. Jonathan Norman caused most of the problems as he finished with 6-26 from 12.3 overs.
After stoppages for rain Cockermouth’s revised target was 93 from 33 overs and they got to 96-1 off only 24.1. Matthew Sempill (56no) and Greg Platten (34no) figured in an unbroken second wicket stand of 77.
Carlisle were too strong for Egremont in their clash at Gillfoot. Egremont were asked to bat first and could never score freely against a tight Carlisle bowling attack. opener Jack Stubbings (34) and big-hitting Mark Ponticelli (32), who hit 28 of those runs in boundaries, were the mainstays in an all-out total of 145.
Henry Walker took 4-10 and was well supported by Fraser Conn (4-40).
A second-wicket stand of 82 between pro Mike Slack and Ben Davidson (40) put Carlisle well on their way. Slack was 81 not out as Carlisle claimed a six-wicket win off 35.4 overs.
n Two of the four ties played in the first round of the Higson Cup needed the Duckworth Lewis system to determine the winners.
Keswick, at home to Lindal Moor, and Workington at Wigton, got through in rain-affected games. It was a welcome success for Keswick who bowled out Lindal for 130 in 44 overs.
Professional Janith De Silva, who has made such a good start to the season, top-scored with 53.
Keswick’s professional Geeth Kumara, who only arrived back at the week-end, took 3-26 while Scott McGown had 3-28.
Because of an interruption through rain, Keswick’s target was reduced to 118 in 39 overs, and they got there with three wickets and 7.2 overs to spare.
Wicket keeper Arran Davies (39) and opener William Atkinson (31) were the mainstays for Keswick against some impressive bowling by De Silva (4-22).
At Lowmoor Road, Workington won by 11 runs on the Duckworth Lewis method after Wigton’s reply was substantially cut short.
They were 28-2 off just 12 overs when a heavy downpour forced off the players and Workington went through. Workington had won the toss and decided to bat which seemed justified when skipper Robbie Lambert (30) and Grant Reid (31) put on 62 for the opening wicket.
But they collapsed to 70-4, including the wicket of sub pro Bevan Small for 3, and were then reduced to 109-6.
Late runs, however, from Adam Chambers (38) and Liam Hazard (24) got to 156-9 off their 45 overs.
Nico Watt took 3-16 but the Wigton skipper went for a first ball duck and at 28-2 it ended early. New Zealander Small took 2-10.
League champions Cockermouth went out at Millom whoere they were on the receiving end of a fine knock by home pro Sameera Sadamai.
He made an unbeaten 32 off 121 balls, striking 12 four and four sixes in a total of scored 245-4. Good support came from Michael Holmes (60).
Cockermouth had plenty of runs at the top of the order – Matthew Sempill (72), Alex Grainger (40), professional Kavishka Anjula (33), Marcus Stables (23) and Neil Buchanan (23) but they got bogged down and from 191-5 slumped to 203 all out.
Paul O’Callaghan did the damage, taking 5-28 from only 6.4 overs.
In the other tie Dalton made a good attempt at chasing down the Furness total of 227-9 but were bowled out for 202, losing their last five wickets for 22 runs.
Mark Daly (51), ex-Workington Reds forward Nathan Waterston (47) and Will Stanway (41) were the main scorers for Furness.
Robert Jones (57) and Daniel Sharpe (52) led the Dalton run chase.
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