Never mind your shapeshifting pan-dimensional monsters and your plucky but by now suspiciously old high school students - the real stranger things happen in the last hour of Love Lane Liverpool Competition games.
Newton-le-Willows were coasting in pursuit of Southport & Birkdale’s 142, when all of a sudden things started to turn upside down.
“My blood pressure has gone through the roof,” admitted captain Chris Chambers after the hosts wrapped up a nervy three-wicket win, their fifth in the ECB Premier Division since winning promotion.
“We made it a bit harder than we should have done.
“But in the end, we were just happy to get over the line and get the win under our belt.”
Earlier, when Jack Morley started skipping to the crease with all the vigour and confidence of a man who’d taken wickets for Lancashire earlier in the week, the visitors hadn’t looked likely to take this one to the wire.
A promising partnership between Jack Stanley and Jonny Whitehead ended with a mid-wicket collision which left Stanley stranded. Whitehead kept hitting the ball in the air in front of square on his way to 39 - the first time, Morley held the ball but immediately admitted it had bounced, to warm applause; the second, Subhaan Mahmood got underneath a steepler but let it slip; the third, the same fielder made amends.
David Snellgrove and Tom Baybutt played back to deliveries that were too full; Romario Brathwaite pushed forward but failed to get to the pitch and chipped to mid-off; Chris Firth did neither, really, and was caught on the crease.
Morley was controlling his pace and flight beautifully, and by the time skipper Chris Cunningham joined Basil Sultan in the middle, the score had gone from 60/2 to 107/9.
A 35-run partnership - the joint highest of the innings - at least gave the bowlers something to bowl at. Morley finished with 6/45, his second five-for since joining Newton from Firwood Bootle, and his best return in the Comp.
But he didn’t get to put his feet up and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. Poor decision-making affected the home batters just as much as the visitors and they collapsed too - from the comfort of 80/2 to a perilous 106/6.
Nathan Hughes started briskly, hitting three sixes in his 30, then aimed a cross-batted swipe at Cunningham before he’d got his measure. Rizwan Haider pulled Chris Firth for three emphatic fours through mid-wicket, then went for a fourth even after a fielder had moved into the flight path.
After Chambers had been undone by a beauty from Bobby Wincer which bruised his edge, Siddiq Patel took a swing at his first ball and spooned it back to the bowler. Mahmood had looked assured and ready to guide his side home, until he launched Wincer unerringly down the throat of Romario Brathwaite at cow corner on 31.
It was up to Morley to steady the ship, and with the help of Zac Donohue, Dom Chambers and a lot of patience, he did just that. With time on their side, they were happy to wait for the hittable deliveries rather than trying to force the issue.
Wincer finished with 4/24, due reward for an incisive spell, but not quite enough to contrive a twist ending to the drama - it was fitting that Morley was there to cut the winning runs through cover.
Chambers said: “The wicket started turning early on, which we’ve not really seen down here this year.
“It was nice to have some turn, and both sides had quality spinners, so it made for a really compelling game.
“We’ve felt aggrieved the past couple of weeks where we looked like we could win and teams have played out for a draw, so it’s nice to get the win that we thought we deserved.”
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Formby lifted themselves off the bottom with an eight-wicket win over ECB Premier Division leaders Wallasey - the hosts’ second win, and the Wirral side’s second defeat.
Sumit Ruikar top-scored with an unbeaten 60 in the visitors’ 230/4, after Jamie Crawley’s 55 got the ball rolling. But the Indian left-armer was unsuccessful with the ball for once, blunted by an unbroken partnership of 150 between the left-handed Calum Turner and Ankit Kalsi.
Skipper Turner finished with 119, his fourth century of the season, while Kalsi made 67 having finally escaped the Home Office’s visa labyrinth.
Ormskirk are up to second after their 101-run win at Wigan. Skipper Gary Knight’s 90 and Sam Marsh’s unbeaten 50 helped the visitors post 260/8, before Zahir Shehzad’s 5/69 - his fourth five-for in the league - sealed the victory.
Third and fourth are Northern and Leigh, two sides who were in a hurry to get out of Wirral on Saturday. New Brighton and Birkenhead Park respectively were inserted and dispatched for 60-something - Northern’s Liam Grey took 5/21 at Rake Lane, where the hosts lost their first three wickets before they’d scored, while Leigh’s Finn Hulbert did the damage at the park with 5/32.
Orrell Red Triangle’s 208/7 was just enough for a 13-run win over Rainhill. Richard Everett’s 93 and Mark Waddington’s 53 led the way, before Dileepa Jayalath took a devilish 6/66 to ensure Tyler McGladdery’s 55 was in vain.
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Rainford skipper John Dotters’ remarkable season with the ball continued - but it wasn’t enough for his side against Division One leaders Liverpool.
Dotters took 5/89 - his eighth five-for in the league, meaning he’s now the Comp’s leading wicket taker - as Nathan Pickering’s 89 led the hosts to 221/9. In reply, Dan Clubbe’s 5/39 and Zohaib Zamankhail’s 4/11 wrapped up the win.
Lytham got back to winning ways in a high-scoring clash with Highfield. Vishvaraj Jadeja scored 130 and captain Michael Farrell 80 in the visitors’ 244, but Akash Vashisht hit an unbeaten 168 to lead the successful chase.
Firwood Bootle’s Jhangir Liaqat took 6/50 to roll Ainsdale for 136, before Josh Andrady’s unbeaten 55 anchored the hosts to a three-wicket win.
Corne Nel top-scored with 84 as Caldy managed 221 against Colwyn Bay - Lloyd Eastham’s 5/39 wrapped up a 32-run win for the Wirral side.
Sefton Park edged a 19-run win at Northop Hall, after Chris Bellis’s 60 led them to 168.
Spring View’s 205/8 - with 86 for Suleman Khan and 60 for Buddika Karawgodalage - was too much for Fleetwood Hesketh, who fell 70 short.
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Maghull maintained their grip on Division Two with a 214-run win over Hightown St Marys, after Macauley Lawrenson’s unbeaten 110 led the hosts to 269/6.
Southport Trinity’s 134, with 62 for Salman Ahmed, was too much for Alder - Liam Simms took 5/12, after the hosts’ Greg Harvey had impressed with 7/21.
Old Xaverians’ Danny Harrison took 6/27 to earn a 39-run win over Parkfield Liscard, having posted just 108 themselves.
Norley Hall overhauled Wavertree’s 136 for a four-wicket win; Robert Collier took 6/18 for the hosts, before Harsha Rajapaksha’s unbeaten 67 led the chase.
Sharen Rajendran took 7/6 as St Helens Town skittled Prestatyn for just 50; they knocked off the runs with four wickets to spare.
