Rams dominate
YET another actionpacked round of Lancashire League action saw all of the teams involved in some fantastic matches over the course of the weekend.
In Division One, Ramsbottom picked up a big win away from home after they defeated Accrington by 139 runs at the Property Shop Arena.
Accrington won the toss and decided to field first, but Ramsbottom had success with the bat and ended on 228-5 after their 50 overs thanks to an unbeaten 70 from Tom Parton, while professional Ashar Zaidi (34), Simon Hanson (33) and JJ Fielding (30) also chipped in.
Accrington then struggled in reply as eight batsmen failed to reach double figures, with the team bowled all out for just 89 after Daniel Pyke took impressive figures of 5-39 for Ramsbottom to help them earn the dominant win and condemn Accrington to defeat.
Norden were victorious at home as they defeated Lowerhouse by 41 runs at Woodhouse Lane.
The home side won the toss and decided to bat, and a fantastic 131 from 133 balls by professional Sami Aslam helped them finish on 255-7, while Josh Tolley also played his part after scoring 61.
Lowerhouse got off to a decent start in reply thanks to Ben Heap (68) and professional Ockert Erasmus (56), but after then falling from 132-1 to 137-4, the remaining batsmen couldn’t hit any significant scores as they finished on 214-7 after 50 overs, meaning they came up short and Norden earned the win.
Rochdale came up short as they lost by 158 runs against Burnley at Turf Moor. Burnley batted
first after winning the toss, and big centuries from Liam Beford (122) and professional Daryn Smit (112) helped them make 276-5 at the end of their innings.
Despite a half century from Rochdale opener and professional Edward Moore (54), the rest of the team struggled, and they were bowled all out for just 118 to hand Burnley a dominant victory.
It also wasn’t to be for Rochdale in the Worsley Cup, as they missed out on the chance to reach the final after a 48 run loss against Darwen in their semi-final match.
Church suffered a defeat at home after losing by three wickets against Clitheroe. Church were put into bat first after Clitheroe won the toss, and Church finished on 183-6 at the end of their innings.
It was a tightly-fought contest but Clitheroe reached the target with seven balls to spare, finishong on 184-7 to come out on top with three wickets in hand.
Elsewhere in Division One, Todmorden earned a 14 run win over Darwen at the Ainsworth Lord Estates Ground, and Crompton beat Walsden by 10 runs at Scott Street.
In Division Two, Bacup travelled to Blackburn Road to take on Rishton in the hope of getting back to winning ways after two consecutive defeats.
It is fair to say that things didn’t quite go to plan.
Rishton won the toss and elected to bat first racking up a total of 250 for 8 from their allotted 50 overs.
It was a classy knock from Pakistani professional Mansoor Amjad of 114 not out which dominated the innings with help from Roberts with 32 and A. Patel with 35. However, it was generally a poor bowling and fielding display from Bacup including dropping Amjad early in his innings.
Ben Lord picked up 3 for 44, but nobody, including the usually miserly Serasinghe, exerted any kind of real control as Rishton piled on the runs.
In response Collinge departed early and a promising partnership developed between Newbitt and Serasinghe.
The Bacup professional looked in superb touch until he received a ball from Kelly Mall which took off before taking the