RAINFORD bounced back from the previous two week’s set-backs with a hard fought three wicket win against Birkenhead Park in the MI Dental Liverpool Competition Premier Division.

After the visitors had elected to bat, Dan Houghton’s excellent opening spell (2 for 17) and two wickets from Bokang Mosena (3 for 50) reduced Park to 32 for 4 before recovering through their middle and late order. Andy Davies (4 for 62) bowled well throughout as Birkenhead Park reached 221 all out.

After losing an early wicket, Saad Khan (22) and Mosena (22) both made valuable contributions together with skipper Paul Farrar (48) as Rainford chased down the total. They were steered to victory by a superb innings from opener Matt Bailey (78) only perishing as the seventh man out when his side were 14 short of their target and in sight of victory. Chris Connolly then allayed any nerves amongst the Rainford ranks by hitting three boundaries to secure a vital win.

Rainford 2nd X1 have moved up to second place in 2ND X1 Division 1 with a commanding 140 run win at Colwyn Bay. Anthony Reid hit an unbeaten 104 and Finlo Smith scored 76 with Mark Brook adding 30 as Rainford declared on 239 for 3. In the second half, seven wickets from Steven Cline blew the Bay away as they were dismissed for 99.