Bacup seize on Rishton skipper’s call
IN Division Two, Rishton entertained Bacup at Blackburn Road on the second weekend of Lancashire League cricket action.
With a green wicket and a very soft outfield, Rishton captain Matt Leathert won the toss and perhaps somewhat surprisingly elected to bat first.
Eleven runs were scored for the first wicket before Sumner removed opener Whitehead for a duck, caught by skipper Newbitt.
Naylor bowled a steady opening spell, but the introduction of professional Khurana had immediate effect with the off spinner removing Fox and Mark Leathert with his first two balls.
Meanwhile, newcomer Ben Excell replaced Sumner for his first spell as a Bacup player and he responded by picking up two quick wickets.
Skipper Newbitt continued to rotate his bowlers with the experienced Ben Lord entering the attack.
He also picked up two wickets, with Khurana adding three more to his haul, finishing with the highly impressive figures of 5 for 13, making it ten wickets in two games as Rishton folded for only 66 in 25.3 overs.
The run chase began and it soon became apparent that the weather could be the biggest obstacle in achieving the win.
Collinge and Khurana departed cheaply, but with Bacup on 48 for 2 and needing only 19 for victory, the umpires took the players off for rain.
The rain stopped for long enough to get back on the field and complete the job chasing a reduced target of 59. Simon Newbitt made the top score of the day with 30 as Bacup won by seven wickets.
The clash was the only one to escape the weather with the games at Accrington, Colne, Crompton,
Middleton and Rawtenstall all abandoned.
In Division One, both Norden and Haslingden left Stag Park on Sunday thinking that the rain had denied them a good opportunity of registering a first win of the season. After being invited to bat first, half-centuries from Josh Tolley and Oli Holt helped Norden get up to what appeared to be a very competitive score of 186. The pitch was offering something for bowlers of all types, but sadly only 1.1 overs of Haslingden’s reply was possible before the rain came and ended what could have been a very good contest.
Norden had plenty of help from the Haslingden fielders, with numerous catches going to ground. Tolley was put down twice in the first over and he punished the visitors with a knock that contained five 4’s and four 6’s. Holt was also a beneficiary of an early drop, but after getting off the mark with a 6, he played some fine shots on his way to a second 1st XI fifty for the club.
There was the opportunity with 10 overs to go to push the score beyond 200, but the returning Oliver Cameron took 3 late wickets to add to his 2 with the new ball and, despite a good contribution from Scott Butterworth, the innings ended in the 49th over. Most on the ground felt it was a good score, but the elements denied us the chance to find out. The 2 early washouts leave Norden already 14 points behind early leaders Burnley, with absolutely nothing they could have done about.
Elsewhere, Burnley beat Todmorden by nine wickets, Darwen won by seven wickets at home against Enfield, Littleborough enjoyed an eightwicket win at Ramsbottom and Lowerhouse won by 33 runs at Walsden. Rochdale’s away game at Clitheroe was abandoned.