Rams celebrate
ADOUBLEHEADER of Lancashire League fixtures along with Twenty20 finals day resulted in an extremely competitive weekend of cricket action.
It was a fantastic weekend for Ramsbottom, as they won the Twenty20 competition and were also victorious in their Lancashire League clash with Rochdale.
The weekend began with their Division One match against Rochdale, with Ramsbottom picking up a 46 run win at Acre Bottom.
Ramsbottom won the toss and decided to bat, and it looked like Rochdale may have a good chance to win as Ramsbottom were bowled all out for just 106.
Rochdale couldn’t capitalise though, with eight batsmen only making single figures and three falling for ducks.
Jon Fielding was the pick of the bowlers for Rochdale, finishing with figures of 6-24 to hand Ramsbottom the win.
Ramsbottom couldn’t win their league game on Sunday, as they lost by three wickets against Clitheroe at Chatburn Road.
Ramsbottom batted first after winning the toss, and ended on 138-8 after top scores from Rehan Udwadia (42 not out) and professional Ashar Zaidi (32).
Clitheroe reached their target with four balls to spare, finishing on 141-7 to earn the win.
Rochdale were emphatically beaten on Sunday after losing by 117 runs against Lowerhouse at Redbrook. Lowerhouse batted first and ended on 195-7, and Rochdale struggled in reply.
Jamie Roche scored 34, but nine batsmen failed to reach double figures and they were bowled all out
for 78, suffering a heavy loss.
It got better for Ramsbottom on Bank Holiday Monday though, as they finished as T20 champions.
They claimed a dominant 81 run win over Church in the semi-final, before then taking on Bacup in the final after they defeated Rishton by six wickets in their respective semi-final.
The finals day was taking place at Lanehead, giving Bacup home advantage, but it didn’t matter in the end as Ramsbottom secured a 46 run victory in the final to earn the trophy.
Church claimed bragging rights against local rivals Accrington after picking up a dominant eight wicket win at The Property Shop Arena.
Accrington won the toss and decided to bat, but were bowled all out for just 71, with James Hayhurst top scoring with 21 not out.
Josh Dentith was the pick of the bowlers for Church, finishing with figures of 4-19. It took Church just 11 overs to reach the target, as they raced ahead and ended on 72-2 to pick up a dominant win and condemn Accrington to defeat.
Church couldn’t make it two wins from two though, as they were beaten by 10 runs against Todmorden at Blackburn Road.
Todmorden were put into bat first after Church won the toss, and were bowled all out for 121. Church pushed their opponents close, but in the end were ultimately bowled out for 111, with Todmorden picking up a narrow win.
Accrington’s match on Sunday then saw them also beaten by seven wickets against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Accrington won the toss and decided to bat, but despite good scores from professional Karl Brown (44) and Graeme Sneddon (41), they were bowled all out for 120.
Bunrley needed just 22 overs to reach the target, as they made 121-3 to come out on top and make it a frustrating week