Winners at a Blackburn cricket festival walked away with a £2,000 cheque over the bank holiday.

The Cricket Festival was organised by AH Sports and took place on Monday, August 28, at East Lancs Cricket Ground in Dukes Brow.

Organisers rescheduled the event which was cancelled due to heavy rain back in May.

The eight-a-side tournament saw teams from Lancashire and Greater Manchester battle it out for the £2,000 prize.

Each team was permitted three professionals with the runners-up also pocketing £1,000.

Entry for the tournament was £500 per team with a round robin format in the group stages.

Shaheen Strikers of Manchester took on Blackburn’s Sattar Builders in the eight over final in front of fans from across the borough.

Sattar Builders were pegged back after a great start thanks to East Lancs professional Zahid Mansoor.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Kate Hollern, MP for Blackburn, presents the winners cup

Shaheen Strikers got off to even better start but lost some quick wickets which meant the game would go to the final few overs.

They still needed 13 off the last two overs and were struggling to hit the boundaries that made up much of their earlier innings.

Despite a valiant effort to defend a small total by the home side, Strikers managed to hit the winning runs with three balls to spare.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Shaheen Strikers celebrate their dramatic win

Lancashire Telegraph:

The player of the tournament award went to Gaurav, whilst the Man of the match award was presented to Irfan Kareem bowled two overs for 13 runs and took three wickets.

Zahid Mansoor picked up the Best Batsman award and the best bowler award went to Kevin.

Kate Hollern, MP for Blackburn, joined former Pakistani professional Tariq Mahmood and councillors for the presentation.

Aneeq Hassan, who organised the event, said: “It was a great day all round at a great venue and a big thank you to all the teams and fans who made it possible.

“There was some great cricket played and we are glad local cricket fans turned out to cheer on their teams.

"A big thanks to all the businesses and sponsors for supporting local cricket."

Councillor Shaukat Hussain said: “I just want say well done to all the teams that participated in what was a very competitive tournament, unfortunately there could only be one winner.

“Many Congratulations to Shaheen Strikers for winning the final. Overall, it was a brilliant day out and a huge crowd turned up to make it that more special

"Many congratulations and well done to AH Sports and Aneeq for organising the tournament and many thanks to East Lancs CC for hosting it.

“It is a great facility and in the heart of the community and fantastic to see it used in this way for local events and residents.”