RADCLIFFE were finally beaten by Mother Nature as they failed by a single wicket to deliver the knockout blow of a prized fighter to Milnrow's faltering innings.

Having reduced their fiesty opponents to 102-9, chasing 126 for victory, the heavens opened and dampened Radcliffe's victory charge.

And, skipper Graeme Simpson was understandably disappointed with the inclement intervention: "We are very disappointed not to win but you can't beat the weather.

"If it had stayed clear for maybe one more over, we might have had an extra three points on the board."

Radcliffe elected to bat first on a pitch that held some demons and soon lost opener Phil Hayes (6) with the score on twelve.

However, experienced hands Bruce Cruse (26) and Pasan Wanansinghe (27) steadied the ship with some stubborn play.

Both were removed in quick succession and the middle order put up little resistance against some accurate bowling from the visiting attack.

The revolving door of the Radcliffe dressing room was given brief respite when Tody McLean (19) and Gaz Nicholson (18) played valuable cameos to help the Racecourse side to 125 all out.

Milnrow professional Wade Wingfield (2-36) chipped in to help fellow strike men Jon (4-50) and Lee Storey (3-36) finish the job.

Milnrow set about their chase with relish and were relatively cruising when they reached 30 without loss.

However, those Milnrow batsman thinking about putting their feet up were jolted into action when Radcliffe paid man Wanansinghe (5-43) ripped through the Rochdale side's batting.

Fellow seamers Hayes (1-20), McLean (2-20) and Steve Cheetham (1-10) also got in on the act but Milnrow refused to lie down and the last two wickets put on 32 before the players were forced off with fifteen overs remaining in the game.

Simpson admitted: "While we were disappointed not to finish Milnrow off, I have to give credit to them because they kept going right until the end and were looking for the win, rather than a draw, when the rain came."

The skipper continued: "We batted well and very sensibly and we had them on the ropes with our bowling.

"Pasan batted and bowled well and was unlucky to be run out but he got a bad call from his partner. He seems to be on auto-pilot at the moment. He's playing very well.

"In addition to Pasan, Phil, Toby and Stephen bowled excellent line and length stuff that was very hard to score from."

Radcliffe have a massive weekend in store when they travel to reigning champions and current leaders Rochdale on Saturday before entertaining Walsden the following day.

Simpson said: "Hopefully the rain can stay away and we can set both sides decent scores to put them under pressure. It's going to be a tough weekend but we remain positive and look forward to the challenge."

And, it wasn't just the first team that were frustrated by the weather, with the seconds suffering a complete wash-out at the home of their Milnrow counterparts.

Radcliffe have been fined by the Central Lancashire League for the late return of three scorecards, no scorer for a second team game and the late return of four captains' reports.