DARWEN continued to set the pace in the Northern Premier League thanks to an emphatic five-wicket victory over third placed Kendal at Birch Hall on Saturday.

Following last week's shock victory over Darwen, Kendal fancied their chances of taking over at the top of the league and decided to bat first.

After early inroads were made by Mercer to dismiss Little and South with just 25 runs on the board, Ashburner and Hunte took the score to 72 from 23 overs. Enter Darwen's senior bowlers, Jeff Hacking and Gareth Cordingley who completely changed the nature of the game.

In just 13 overs they reduced Kendal to 99-8 with Hacking taking two wickets and Cordingley three for just seven runs. Mercer was then brought back into the attack to clean up the innings by taking the final two wickets to fall with Kendal all out for 104.

Ashburner was left stranded on 15 not out having faced just 90 balls from the 32 overs he was at the crease.

Good contributions from Hadfield (18), Semple (19) and Hacking 18, not out, saw Darwen home in just 30 overs with five wickets in hand.

Darwen seconds also had a comfortable win over Kendal. With Chris Davis picking up 6 wickets as Kendal were dismissed for 96. Painter (40 not out) and Heys (48 not out) ensured Darwen won by nine wickets.

Darwen Chairman Peter Lamster was delighted with the victory. He said: "I was a bit worried after the way we lost last week, but to bounce back as emphatically as we did today was a credit to the team. "Kendal were really expecting to build on that victory and we were able to boost our title hopes while putting a big dent in theirs.

"It's great to see Darwen's name at the top of both the first and second team leagues and in particular that so many players are contributing to the victories."