A depleted Chorley side missing six regular first teamers put up a brave fight before falling to defeat to in-form Kendal.

With professional Tom Smith on England Under 19 duty Chorley had to call on a substitute pro' and Uktarsh Chandra did the honours and put in a fine performance.

Billy Smith, Mark Richardson, Nigel Heaton, Ian Mawdesley were other experienced players unavailable.

Having been asked to bat Chorley lost wickets at regular intervals, with the makeshift opening partnership of Paul Greenwood and Guarav Dhar failing to last long. But Chandra batted well to offer some resistance as Kendal reduced Chorley to 79/5.

Howarth and professional Kabir Khan posed an early threat and Chorley contributed to their own downfall with some poor shot selection plus an almighty mix up which saw Jack Catterall run out.

Ian Oakes joined Chandra in what proved to be the biggest stand of the innings, with Oakes blasting two sixes before holing out off a miscued drive.

Chandra batted beautifully in playing a quite flawless knock.

In typical Indian fashion he used the bat more as a rapier than a broadsword, playing in a wonderfully wristy manner and he found another ally in Javid Hussain whose batting has improved immensely recently. Chandra's lovely innings finally ended on 51 and Hussain was unbeaten on 28 as Chorley's closed on 167 in the penultimate over.

Chandra then struck an early blow, with the ball trapping Ullah LBW, but Mohammed Yasin and Terry Hunte launched a ferocious assault with a blizzard of boundaries.

The duo added 83 at breakneck pace before Craig Millward, on his debut, had them both caught in the deep by Hussain.

Chandra then won a second LBW decision to leave Kendal 93/4 and give Chorley a glimmer of hope.

Howarth and Khan, though, posted a 50 stand to take Kendal to the threshold of victory and though Dhar removed both in quick succession, the home side romped home in 31 overs and four wickets in hand, leaving Chorley with three points.

On Saturday Chorley are at home to Lancaster.