Bottom-of-the-table Lostock claimed an impressive eight-wicket win at home to 2023 Premiership champions Little Lever as the Anthony Axford North West Cricket League season reached its halfway point on Saturday afternoon.
Lostock’s third win in 11 games was achieved against a Little Lever side who started the day in third place, the hosts reeling in a revised target of 160 in 43 overs thanks largely to wicketkeeper-opener Sam Barlow’s patient 59.
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Earlier, four Lostock bowlers struck twice apiece, including Pakistani pro Akbar Ur Rehman and captain James Evans, as Little Lever were limited to 159-9 in 43 overs.
The visitors have now lost ground on leading duo Read (114 points) and second-placed Farnworth Social Circle (102). Both won matches away at Tonge and at home to Farnworth, respectively.
In the Championship, hosts Whalley won the top-of-the-table clash against leaders Ribblesdale Wanderers (107 points, 13 games) to cut the gap to just five points at the summit with an eighth win.
Whalley, who have two games in hand, bowled Ribblesdale out for 74 thanks to pro Levi Wolfenden’s stunning new-ball 7-32 from 14 overs. Stuart Crabtree then top-scored with a middle-order 25 to help recover a chase which had slipped to 8-3, winning by four wickets.
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Cherry Tree are third on 94 points having won for the eighth time in 10, impressively so, too, as they chased a revised target of 190 in 41 overs off the penultimate ball to win at Earby by seven wickets.
Captain Andreas Sudnik claimed two wickets in Earby’s 190-5 from 41 overs before brothers Charlie and Owen Elwood hit 47 opening and 50 not out from the middle order, respectively, in a strong chase as Cherry Tree close in on the two promotion places.
In the Premiership, Social Circle won the Farnworth derby by 117 runs at home, securing a full 12-point haul to secure a ninth win in 11 games.
Bajan pro Jameel Stuart continued his excellent recent form with 51 off 34 balls in the home side’s 256-7 from 41 overs before striking four times with spin in Farnworth’s 139 all out. Farnworth returned to the bottom of the table.
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Leaders Read won at Tonge – their 10th win in 11 – by 42 runs.
Read’s 167-8 from 45 overs was underpinned by 59 for captain Will Wrathall and 51 from excellent Sri Lankan pro Sehan Weerasinghe, who then helped bowl Tonge out for 125 with five wickets.
The champions of the last two seasons were beaten on Saturday. Alongside Little Lever’s loss, last year’s Premiership winners Blackrod (124 all out) suffered the same fate at Salesbury by eight wickets.
Salesbury’s impressive fourth win in 11 gave them some much-needed breathing space towards the bottom of the table. Elliott Simpson and Sam Bristol struck three times each before South African pro Garnett Tarr’s quickfire unbeaten 66 starred in a dominant chase.
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Eagley have joined Farnworth in the bottom two after being leapfrogged by Atherton, who beat them by seven wickets at home chasing 126.
Atherton’s third win came as Zeeshan Aslam’s four wickets was central to bowling Eagley out for 125 before Bajan pro Shayne Moseley opened up with 55no in a routine reply.
The bottom four teams are separated by 15 points, Atherton in ninth on 59, Lostock (51) next, Eagley 11th on 48 and Farnworth bottom with 41.
Third-placed Padiham’s (82 points) sixth win in 11 came at home to mid-table Kearsley, by 14 runs.
Pro Iftikhar Naseer and former captain Owen Deakin-Pickard made 40 apiece in 193-9 from 42 overs before South African overseas amateur Zander Van Tonder took the new ball and claimed four wickets in Kearsley’s 178 all out.
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They recovered from 80-7, but Dhanraj Patel’s fine 77 went unrewarded.
Back in the Championship, fourth-placed Barnoldswick were home winners by 77 runs against Astley Bridge – a pre-season promotion favourite who are struggling to maintain pace with the second tier’s leading pack.
Barnoldswick (85 points) have now won seven from 10 games and are 17 behind second-placed Whalley with a game in hand.
Their 217-7 from 43 overs was underpinned by opener Abdul Saddique’s patient 77 before Bridge, chasing a revised 219-target, were bowled out for 191 in reply. Saddique chipped in with three wickets to cap off a super day.
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Walkden are off the bottom of the Championship, being replaced by the team they beat on Saturday – Brinscall.
Hosts Walkden posted 209 all out thanks to Salman Younis’s middle-order 55, fashioning a brilliant recovery from 98-6. In defence, captain Ammad Afzal and his new-ball partner Imran Ali claimed three wickets each in Brinscall’s 136 all out. Walkden’s third win in 11 moved them up to eighth above Brinscall and Earby.
Fifth-placed Baxenden beat mid-table rivals Oswaldtwistle Immanuel by eight wickets at home, their sixth win in 12. Matthew Austin starred with the new ball, his fabulous 6-31 from 11.4 overs backed up by four wickets for opening partner Nick Fowler as Oswaldtwistle were bowled out for 66. Australian OA Mitchell Slattery top-scored with 20 in the chase.
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