IT was a run feast at Stanley Park on Monday (May 29) as the Bay 96.9 Northern Premier League game between Blackpool and Fleetwood produced 437 runs.

Blackpool, 218-6, were on the losing end as Fleetwood replied with 219-3 to win a most entertaining game by seven wickets in the final over.

John Wright won the toss and asked Blackpool to bat first and they got off to a poor start as Richard Lamb could only drive a ball back to Pat King who hung on to the catch and the opener was gone for nought with only three runs on the board.

Martin Pickles and Mark Lomas then added 96 in 104 minutes as the former struck some sparkling drives and the latter survived a confident appeal for a catch behind the wicket off professional Abbas Ali.

Pickles was the first to go, caught by Rob Clark off Ali for a season's best 61 made from 136 balls with seven fours.

Eleven runs later Lomas, a somewhat laboured 44, followed him to the pavilion, this time edging Alex Laird through to wicketkeeper Karl Wilkinson.

Bracewell and Singh then realised the tempo needed to increase and proceeded to bludgeon the bowling to all parts of the field.

Well though Fleetwood fielded, the pair added 73 before Bracewell, 32, was stumped by Wilkinson off Laird who struck again without addition to the score as he had Singh caught by Bobby Denning for 44 made from only 32 balls with two sixes and one four.

Chris Cornall, four, became the second Wilkinson/Laird victim at 200 and Paul Danson, ten not out, and Marcus Sharp, 11 not out, saw Blackpool through to 218-6 from their 60 overs, with 108 of the runs coming from the final 14 overs. Alex Laird was the pick of the Fleetwood bowlers and returned 4-66 from 17 overs.

Fleetwood's reply began sedately and John Wright and Bobby Denning had 40 on the board by the 20th over when disaster struck for Denning.

Having played a ball through the off-side for what seemed an easy single he collapsed on the pitch after just a couple of strides; after attention he was helped from the field with what turned out to be a badly pulled groin.

In came Abbas Ali; he quickly saw that the bowling was more ordinary than penetrating and he had nothing to fear as he unleashed a series of scorching drives and pulls that fairly raced to the boundary.

And at the other end Wright was no sleeping partner as he pushed the score along at a rapid rate.

Namajee bowled three overs, but Ali was so severe on him, particularly with three cover drives that simply gave the fielders no hope, that he was taken off with 25 runs against his name.

Darren Walton was then tried and he was so severely punished to the tune of 29 runs in two overs that he too was removed from the attack.

Marcus Sharp returned to restore a modicum of sanity to the bowling, but Fleetwood had the bit between their teeth.

The score had rattled along to 202, the last 162 scored by Wright and Ali in 99 minutes, when Ali was caught by Sharp off Danson when he skied to deep mid-on.

He had made a magnificent 101 from 71 balls with seven fours and one six.

Clinning, one, was splendidly caught by a driving Hackett off Sharp and Dewhurst, two, was leg before wicket to Sharp, but Wright was not to be denied.

Off the first ball of the final over he calmly took a leisurely single to reach 97 not out, made from 162 balls with seven four, and take Fleetwood to 219-3 and a most deserved win by seven wickets.