No respite for the Rams at Walsden
THERE was no movement off the bottom of the table for Ramsbottom when they travelled to Walsden in the JW Lees Division 1 last weekend.
Unfortunately, the luck for the away side wasn’t about to change with the home side winning by an impressive 193 runs.
Ramsbottom won the toss and elected to field but were blown away by impressive batting by Josh Gale (103 runs), Zohaib Khan (65 runs) and Joe Gale (56 runs).
The home side secured 277-5 on what proved a comfortable afternoon as Rammy only managed 84 all out in their replay, no fewer than six of their last seven batsmen sent back to the pavilion without scoring as Gale followed up his heroics with the bat by claiming remarkable figures of 5-2 off just three overs.
Haslingden lost by 37 runs as they entertained Clitheroe.
It was the away side who won the toss and elected to bat first, Jack and Charlie Dewhurst both scoring an impressive 58 runs, with the latter doing that off just 53 balls. Jack also managed six fours and Charlie five fours and one six.
Clitheroe closed on 195-7.
Despite the best efforts of Mini Bhada who scored 26 runs off 30 balls, Haslingden were all out for 175 and the visitors won by 37 runs, Ali Ross best with the ball as he claimed 3-30 off 13 overs including three maidens.
Andrew Dawson was the star of the show for Rochdale in their 15-run win at Greenmount.
Dawson struck 127 off 129 deliveries after the visitors had lost the toss and been asked to bat first. With Ali Muzaffar hitting a half century and Mark Halliwell contributing a useful 35, Rochdale closed on 276-7 off 48 overs.
In response, Greenmount were all out for 266, Callum Hunter top-scoring with 71 as Casey Roche claimed 5-80 in helping Rochdale to victory.
In a closely fought game between Lowerhouse and Darwen at the Brooks Foundation Ground, Siddhesh Lad scored 54 runs to power the visitors to victory.
Darwen won the toss and elected to bat, which turned out to be a wise decision.
With Lad top-scoring, Mark Friend hitting 42 and John Cordingley a helpful 27, Darwen ended up closing on 164-3 off 43 overs and securing victory by just four runs, Benjamin Heap (48) and Dean Barlow (38) best with the bat for Lowerhouse.
Middleton batsman James Tierney scored a hugely impressive 106 runs in his side’s challenging game against Todmorden at Towncroft where they secured victory by three wickets.
Middleton won the toss and elected to field. A number of big hits from Will Bosisto (76 runs) and Tom Stansfield (41 runs) certainly tested Middleton, Dale Highton’s 6-69 reining in the visitors, who closed on 209 all out in the 48th over.
Tierney’s century guided Middleton home,
Rhys Tierney helping out with 33.
Defending champions, Burnley travelled to Norden, who upped their game accordingly to record a fine win against a side who had held the wood over them since they joined the league.
A bright opening stand for Burnley was ended when Zaidi got a generous looking LBW decision against Joe Marshall and Norden were then able to turn the screw.
Burnley lost eight wickets for just 61, including professional Ockert Erasmus who was cleaned up by a beauty from Scott Butterworth.
A ninth wicket partnership of 54 between Bharat Tripathi and Harry Tomlinson got the champions up to respectability but 164 is rarely enough on Stag Park these days.
The ever-reliable combination of Zaidi and Greg Butterworth combined for another eight wickets. At one stage, tight bowling from the visitors looked like turning the chase into a more difficult one than first thought but the arrival of Zaidi made the difference and the impetus he provided immediately allowed Tolley to play anchor from the other end and their partnership of 108 got the Stags within spitting distance.
Although Zaidi fell before the job was completely done, Tolley stayed firm and another 12 points were secured.
Norden are now just one point behind leaders Darwen, with Clitheroe a further two points back. Those three teams have opened up a little gap over the rest of the pack.