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FOSTERS LANCASHIRE LEAGUE CRICKET SHELDAN KEAY

RA M S B O T TOM Cricket Club suffered heartbreak in the Worsley Cup after they were beaten in the semifinal of the competition by 34 runs against Darwen.

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.

Darwen will take on Church in the final after they defeated neighbours Accrington by 40 runs at Blackburn Road.

Accrington 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 straight forward 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.

While Ramsbottom came up short in the cup, they managed to pick up a two-wicket win in the Lancashire League against Burnley at Turf Moor.

Burnley won the toss and decided to bat, and ended their innings on 222-6 after David Brown (81) and opener Liam Bedford (65) both passed half centuries.

It was a shaky start for Ramsbottom but they appeared to make amends further down the order, thanks to the likes of Jon Fielding (61) and JJ Fielding (55 not out).

It proved to be a nailbiting finish when Ramsbottom went to 211-8, but the visitors powered through and finished on 227-8, winning the match with two overs to spare.

BACUP were victorious in their Lancashire League fixture after they defeated Rishton 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.

It looked like they may have been on course for victory, but in the end the Bacup bowlers managed to bowl them out during the final over, earning their side a six run win.

Ernest Kemm and Matthew Aspinall were the pick of the bowlers for Bacup, finishing with figures of 3-34 and 3-36 respectively.

RAWTENSTALL are still ●● Graham Knowles hit 54 for Haslingden searching for their first win of the season after a three wicket defeat to Todmorden at Centre Vale.

Rawtenstall won the toss and decided to bat first, and got off to a decent start when they reached 91-2.

A collapse soon followed though, with only one of the final six bats-