Belfast Wolves moved into second place in the ETPL table with the biggest win of the tournament, against Glasgow Cosmic, but it looks like they will have to beat Edinburgh Castle Rockers, the leaders, on Thursday to have a chance of making Saturday’s play-off game.

The teams around them all have two games to play, the Wolves have just one but they wasted no time in picking up their fifth win, demolishing Cosmic, already with no chance of progressing, by 103 runs.

After Harry Manenti had laid the platform, with 39 from 26 balls (three fours, two sixes), Lorcan Tucker made it back to back 50s and Mark Chapman cashed in at the end with 54 from just 25 balls with three fours and four sixes as 66 came off the last six overs. Wolves finished on 187 for eight, just two short of the highest total, ironically conceded by Wolves against the Castle Rockers.

Liam Livingstone, who dismissed Manenti, Tucker and Glenn Maxwell – the captain promoted  himself to No 4 but was caught on the boundary from his sixth ball for 13 – was the pick of the Glasgow bowlers with figures of three for 27.

Chasing such a formidable total and with only two wins to their name, there was an inevitability about the Cosmic innings as they tried to hit out and invariably got out. Only three batters made it into double figures, including Paul van Meekeren who had given himself out lbw first ball after seeing the first TV replay. When the ball-tracking arrived it had spun past off stump!

Gavin Hoey, playing his first match of the tournament, was the bowler and it would have been two in two for him as he had just bowled top scorer Moses Henriques for 31.

Although the pitch didn’t take as much turn as  the morning match, Matthew Humphreys was given the new ball and finished with four for 19, with his arm ball particularly successful. Mark Adair, Chris Jordan and Maxwell were  the other wicket-takers on a straightforward afternoon for Belfast. But the big one has still to come.