Keswick won the match of the day in the Cumbria Cricket League’s Premier Division with a dramatic one-wicket success against champions Furness.
Once again the Fitz Park pitch didn’t produce a lot of runs but it did result in a nail-biting finish before the home side got the verdict.
Deciding to bat first Furness had lost half the side for 57; nobody scored more than 14 and they were bowled out for 89 in 27.2 overs.
New Keswick professional Nisala Tharaka did most of the damage with 5-31, well backed up by Paul Hindmarch (3-23).
In reply Keswick found themselves in a similar position to their opponents when they were 55-5 and were indebted to Glen Weightman (31) for keeping them afloat. That proved to be comfortably the highest score of the game.
At 79-8 Furness might have fancied their chances of snatching the win but the ninth wicket went down with the scores level and a single from Finn Turnbull saw Keswick over the line.
Josh Shaw (3-19) was the most successful bowler with Gary Thompson taking 2-1 from three overs.
Cockermouth also picked up their second victory, but they looked to be second best in their home clash with Cleator until being rescued by a 10th wicket partnership.
Matty Sempill (50) had been going well at number three but he lost four partners who hadn’t scored, and when the skipper himself went Cockermouth were under the hammer at 93-7.
Sam Scully and Gabriel Drimmie soon followed Sempill back into the pavilion and at 94-9 Cockermouth were wondering if they would reach three figures.
But Cleator were to be frustrated by two young stars of the future Ethan Hardie-Knight (50) and Josh Brownn (34no) as they put on 88 match-winning runs for the last wicket.
Hardie-Knight, fresh from a five-wicket haul for the County against Shropshire last Sunday, was celebrating his maiden half century.
Cleator pro Dilan Jayalath took 5-43 from his 10 overs while Darren Clark had 3-23 but they would clearly consider they had let Cockermouth off the hook.
Chasing 183 for victory instead of a possible 100, Cleator also struggled and Jayalath (21) top-scored as they were eventually bowled-out for 101 in 32.1 overs.
Brown (3-18), Hardie-Knight (2-15), Alex Grainger (2-15) and overseas amateur Jacob Madigan (2-37) shared the wickets.
Whitehaven are the third team with two wins under their belts after they beat Carlisle 2nds at the Playground.
Put into bat Carlisle had runs at the top of the order from Freddie Newton (35), David Rhoda (27) and Jordan Whinn (25) but rather folded to 141 all out in 42.4 overs. Lewis Keeler took 5-29 from seven overs.
Whitehaven, still trying to get clearance for their new professional, were unable to book a sub pro but were able to complete their victory at 147-5 at the start of the 36th over.
Kian Larmour (37), Chase Young (34), Steve Holliday (24) and Adam Brown (26no) saw the home side to their target with overseas amateur Rhoda taking 4-40.
Millom got off the mark at neighbours Dalton after a fine knock by professional Nathan Waterston.
Put in to bat Millom reached 212-5 in their 50 overs after Waterston (129no) and Josh Mackie (50) had put on 157 for the first wicket. Vaibhav Bhatt, the Dalton pro, took all five wickets to fall for 65 from his ten overs.
Bhatt was also the mainstay in the Dalton reply making 73 off 80 balls and when he was sixth out at 162 his side still had a chance.
But the last four wickets went down for the addition of just 20 runs and Millom had picked up their first win of the season by 33 runs.
Rob Jones (35) gave Bhatt most support while the main wicket-takers for Millom were Ben High (3-28) and Luke Sumner (3-25).
The day’s other centurion was Workington wicket-keeper Sam Bates who opened the innings at Wigton and was 110 not out off 108 deliveries, striking 15 fours and four sixes.
One seasoned observer thought it was one of the best knocks he had seen for a number of years.
His innings played a big part in Workington reaching victory on 164-5 after they had inserted Wigton after winning the toss.
Wigton had been bowled out for 160 in 45.4 overs with the main contributions from Sam Murdock (34no) and Kieran Little (33). Four Workington bowlers took two wickets apiece with the best return by Simon Beare (2-23).
