Church bowlers
FOSTERS LANCASHIRE LEAGUE CRICKET SHELDAN KEAY
CHURCH Cricket Club are celebrating after making it into the final of the Worsley Cup following a 40-run victory against local rivals ACCRINGTON at Blackburn Road.
It was Accrington who won the toss and decided to field first, and they made a perfect start when they dismissed Church openers Zain Abbas and Josh Scully for just one combined run.
Craig Fergusson (34), Bilal Abbas (29) and Francis Kinsella (27) hit decent scores for Church, but the rest of the side struggled to contribute and the team were bowled all out for 144.
It seemed a straightforward target for Accrington to chase down, but they failed to take advantage.
Jake Clarke top scored for the visitors with 20, but only three of his teammates made it past 10 runs and the team were dismissed for 104, handing Church the win.
Zain Abbas and Bilal Abbas were the pick of the bowlers for Church, finishing with figures of 3-12 and 3-20 respectively.
Church will take on Darwen in the final of the competition after they defeated Ramsbottom by 34 runs.
Ramsbottom won the toss and decided to field first, and it looked to be a good decision when Darwen found themselves 85-5 at one stage.
Professional Calvin Savage steadied the ship for Darwen though, hitting 75 from just 57 balls as he helped his team finish on 212-9 at the end of their innings.
Ramsbottom got off to a slow start when they were 14-2, but professional Grant Thomson (61) and Martin Cropper (32) combined to get things back on track.
It looked like it would be a close finish when Ramsbottom reached 148-4, but a collapse soon followed and only one of the last five batsmen managed to reach double figures, meaning they were bowled all out for 178 and handed Darwen the win.
While Church won in the Worsley Cup semifinal, they couldn’t repeat those heroics in the Lancashire League after a crushing 10 wicket defeat to Clitheroe.
Church were put into bat first, and an extremely poor batting display saw only Francis Kinsella (13) reach double figures.
Six players failed to score a single run, with Church bowled all out for 34 after just 13 overs.
It was an easy run chase for Clitheroe, as Charlie Dewhurst (21 not out) and Ali Ross (nine not out) reached their team’s target after just seven overs without losing a wicket.
Accrington’s Worsley Cup heartbreak wasn’t made any easier as they also suffered a 75 run defeat to Lowerhouse at Liverpool Road.
Lowerhouse were put into bat first after Accrington won the toss, but the home side still managed to post a good score.
They ended their innings on 252-5, with professional Ockert Erasmus (62) and Ben Heap (55) both reaching their half centuries.
Accrington got off to a good start when opener Graeme Sneddon hit 80, helping the team to 140-1 at one stage.
They soon collapsed though, with only one of the final seven batsmen reaching double figures and they were bowled all out for 177.
RISHTON came up short in their Lancashire League fixture after they lost to Bacup by six runs at Lanehead.
Bacup batted first, with several of their players hitting decent totals, including Matt Thompson (42), Adam Highley (39), Aaron Fielding (36) and Matt Collinge (32 not out).
Those scores helped the team end their innings on 211-7, with Scott Greaves finishing as the pick of the bowlers for Rishton after taking figures of 3-53.
Rishton had a good response, led by professional Shaun von Berg who passed his half century in the match.