PRESTON returned from Lune Road with 2 points from a losing draw with Lancaster.

Preston captain Manoj Parekh's decision to put Lancaster into bat misfired because openers David Heywood and Phil Dennison added 45 runs for the the first wicket.

Dennison was trapped lbw by first charge bowler Roger Kaye for 21.

Then only five runs later, 16-year-old James Anyon had Lancaster professional Raj Hans caught by Manoj Parekh without scoring.

Lancaster redressed the balance with a third wicket partnership of 65 before David Heywood was caught by James Anyon off fourth change bowler Zubaire Patel for 57.

Half the Lancaster side were dismissed for 161 when Paul Taylor was caught by Antony Mann off Patel for 16.

The game swung back to Lancaster with a seventh wicket partnership of 59 between Brendan Hetherington and David Jolleys.

Lancaster declared in the 48th over when the latter was bowled by Patel for 25. Hetherington remained undefeated with 34.

Zubaire Patel returned his best bowling figures for Preston, taking 5-55 from 11.5 overs. It was the same old story with the early Preston batting.

Opener Antony Mann was caught by Alex Mutucumarana off David Jolleys without opening his account, leaving Preston 3-1.

Then Paul Mann and Ben Harrison were both dismissed with the score on 29.

Worse was to follow when Preston were reduced to 33-4 when Paul Painter was caught and bowled by Jolleys for four.

Zubaire Patel and Asif Bukhari stopped the rot with a 61-run partnership for the fifth wicket before Bukhari was lbw for 37.

Preston then lost their next two wickets at 131.

After Trevor Donaldson was caught by Taylor off Hans for 18, James Anyon and Roger Kaye batted out the overs for a draw.

Hopefully, Preston will have grown in confidence from their draw against Lancaster and can take some points from their home fixture against Morecambe.

A lot will depend upon Preston's early batsmen and whether they can lay a solid foundation.

Final result: Lancaster 220-7 dec Preston 146-8.

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