BLACKBURN Northern kept up their hopes of finishing as runners-up thanks to fine batting performances from captain Danny Lord and Chris Chambers.

Both batsmen batted intelligently to keep the pressure on second-placed Edenfield with two matches to go after Great Harwood had turned in a competent display at the crease.

Chasing a 76-0 total off a reduced 16 overs, Lord fell one run short of the maximum 30 allowed in under 15s cricket while Chambers was unbeaten on the same score. The captain was clean bowled by Imran when going for that last final big hit while Chambers appeared a little upset Adam Chester hit the winning runs rather than let him reach the 30 run milestone for the first time this season!

However, the batting performance of the day came from Great Harwood captain Phil Stevenson who retired on 33 -- although he was dropped early on before he got into his stride.

His aggressive batting was well complimented by his more cautious opening partner Mick Galeski.

Stevenson showed his attention from the start smacking two boundaries off Lord's opening over -- hitting six fours in total.

Northern were a bit sloppy in the outfield -- the wet conditions did not help -- and Great Harwood took encouragement to run at every given opportunity.

However, there were some good bowling performances and Lord's fine line was rewarded with a maiden over while off spinning Kuram Shahzad was a cause for concern.

When Stevenson retired, Galeski upped his own run rate and was well supported by Farqan Amin.

It was a performance that belied Great Harwood's lowly position which has seen them win only two matches all season.

Hopes of win number three must have been in the mind when Galeski made a breakthrough in the first over when Robin Crawshaw was caught by Amin following the sweetest of hook shots to the boundary.

And Stephenson looked like he could trouble the Northern batsmen with his fast and accurate bowling.

But Lord was not for going and with Chambers took Northern to within 20 runs of their target with plenty of overs in hand.

He should have reached 30 but came down the wicket to meet an Imran delivery and was well beaten for pace.

Chester came in and played the supported role to Chambers who made sure the runs kept ticking over at a steady rate.

And it was Chester who hit the winning runs with a boundary drive in the 12th over.

GREAT HARWOOD

P Stevenson rtrd...33

M Galeski not out...27

F Amin not out...7

Extra...9

Total (0 wkts)...76

Bowling: D Lord 4-1-18-0; R Metcalfe 4-0-18-0; C Chambers 4-0-17-0; R Crawshaw 1-0-9-0; K Shahzad 3-0-12-0

BLACKBURN

NORTHERN

D Lord b Imran...29

R Crawshaw c Amin b Galeski...4

C Chambers not out...29

A Chester not out...7

Extras...8

Total (2 wkts)...77

Bowling: M Galeski 4-0-24-1; P Stevenson 4-0-28-0; Imran 2-1-10-1; M Hill 1.4-0-8-0