RAMSBOTTOM breathed new life into their season with a record-breaking win at Todmorden, who posted 301-3 but still lost by three wickets.

Ramsbottom defied all the odds to secure only their fourth win of the summer with the highest ever second-innings run-chase.

Captain Brian Taylor led from the front with 82 from just 71 balls as he laid the foundations for victory with opener Tommy Read, whose 84 came off 100 deliveries.

The pair, who both hit 14 fours, fully exploited a magnificent batting pitch.

They added 151 before Taylor fell at 171 but the impetus was maintained in a fourth-wicket stand of 53 between Simon Lord (38 from 43 balls) and Mark Price, who made 28 from just 22 balls.

The visitors inevitably lost a couple of wickets as they chased 134 off the last 20 overs.

That target became 66 off 10 but Julian Marcroft crashed 31 off just 16 balls and Ramsbottom clattered the last 27 runs needed from just 10 balls.

Todmorden were understandably shell-shocked.

Professional Brendan Nash hit a majestic 176 not out, hitting seven sixes and 21 fours in his 147-ball stay.

The young Australian shared a 252-run stand with captain Richard Baigent, whose excellent 94 came off 127 balls with 13 boundaries. However, their efforts were in vain as Ramsbottom re-wrote the record books, to the delight of captain Taylor.

"Hopefully from now with a result like this, we will pick up again and go onwards and upwards," he said.

Lowerhouse revived their title challenge by crushing Enfield at Liverpool Road thanks to a hat-trick from Jez Hope and a brilliant unbeaten century from Martin Van Jaarsveld.

Chasing Enfield's total of 186 all out, Van Jaarsveld was in imperious form, striking 24 fours and one six on his way to 125 not out.

He helped put on 83 for the second wicket with skipper Nicky Hope (21) and then shared a fourth wicket stand of 79 with Simon Payne (28) to lead his side to a six wicket victory.

Earlier in the day, the South African had shared the spotlight with Hope as the Enfield tail collapsed.

Andy Barker's men had looked set for 200-plus at 186-5 with three of their 50 overs still left.

But the visitors then lost five wickets in seven balls through Van Jaarsveld and a stunning Hope hat-trick.

Rishton professional Paul Wiseman had his best day so far but it wasn't enough to stop Colne notching a fifth successive League win at Blackburn Road.

Colne professional Joe Scuderi was the mainstay of his team's highly respectable 195-8.

The Australian scored 91 from 119 balls, with nine fours and two sixes, before being last man out.

Wiseman picked up 5-45 and then dominated Rishton's reply with his highest Lancashire League innings of 81.

New Zealander Wiseman hit eight fours in his innings, which put Rishton in with a chance.

But Scuderi's bowling changes paid dividends. Trevor Kegg and Roger Harper picked up five wickets apiece to put Nelson two points clear at the top thanks to their seven-wicket victory over Rawtenstall at Seedhill.

The visitors were already making serene progress at 83-5 with eight overs left, after Harper (5-32) had inflicted the early damage, when Kegg returned with a devastating second spell. He claimed 4-5 in three overs to take his haul to 5-26. Nelson then had no trouble in knocking them off thanks to an unbeaten 33 from Paul Garaghty and 26 from Harper.

Professional Mark Bailey produced a match-winning performance as Accrington again lifted themselves off the bottom with a six-wicket win over Burnley.

Bailey took 4-56 from 25 overs as Burnley were pegged back after making a flying start.

Philip Edmondson and professional Anthony Botha put on 87 for the first wicket and skipper Andy McLeod then hit 23 from 27 balls.

However, from 121-3, Burnley collapsed to 139-9 before the last pair added 17 to haul the visitors up to 156-9 from their 50 overs.

Accrington were in deep trouble at 1-2 as James Anderson struck two early blows. But Bailey kept his head with an unbeaten 84 from 101 balls with nine fours and a six, sharing a match-winning unbroken 86-run partnership with Matt Wilson, whose 36 came off just 39 balls.

Bacup beat Church at Lane Head courtesy of two stunning bowling performances from professional Brad White and David Ormerod.

White bagged 4-27 and Ormerod 4-21 as Church were ousted for 115, 29 runs short of the home side's total of 144-9.

Only Alex Holt (36) and Andy Aspin (35) managed double figures for the visitors.

Earlier, a patient 52 from Peter Thompson provided the backbone to the Bacup innings but Terry Lord (27) and Andrew Spencer (26) also made valuable mid-order contributions to claw the home side to 144-9.

Yesterday's Worsley Cup semi-finals - Colne v Haslingden and East Lancs v Enfield - were both rained-off without a ball being bowled. They will now be played next Saturday, July 3.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.