LEADERS Clitheroe met Great Harwood in a dress rehearsal of the Ramsbottom Cup final and it proved to be a one-sided affair with Great Harwood being bowled out for 99,

Harwood captain, Patrick Swanney, was the only player to put up any form of resistance, top scoring with 39 and Josh Marquest took 4-8.

In reply, Clitheroe lost a couple of early wickets but an unbeaten fourth wicket partnership between Janaka Guneratne (39no) and Peter Dibb(28no) saw Clitheroe home by seven wickets with nearly 20 overs to spare.

Read entertained Settle. Settle scored an impressive 260-8, with sizeable contributions from Asif Fazal(66), Thomas Strickland (53) and Tabassum Aziz(45no) for their total.In reply Read were bowled out for 163 giving Settle victory by 97 runs. Tom Turner top scored with 51, with the wickets being shared between Tom Davidson(5-44) and Imran Khalid(4-49). Settle are looking to at least keep in contact with Clitheroe should the leaders slip up.

The clash between Cherry Tree and Oswaldtwistle ended in a close finish. Oswaldtwistle made 184 -5, with Jean Marais top scoring with 59. In reply Cherry Tree were always in with a chance, with Stefan Klopper and Ryan Hurley both scoring 35. However they were nine runs short of their target when the overs ran out with the last pair at the wicket to give Oswaldtwistle a much needed win.

The final game was Section A Euxton against Whalley. Euxton were bowled out for 121 and had to thank 51 from Mark Winrow for helping to hold the inning together. Joshua McClean took 4-29. Whalley knocked off the required runs to win by five wickets with Yogesh Takawale(39) and Richard Lamb(30no) seeing them home.

The match of the day came in Section B where Feniscowles, who were still seeking a first win of the season, entertained Salesbury in what proved to be something of a run fest.

Salesbury batted first, scoring runs freely and at 122 -1 with Liam Parkinson (33) and Neil Hornbuckle looking in good form a big total looked on the cards.

However, the introduction of Khalid Hussain who took three wickets in two overs including that of Hornbuckle for 61 looked to have stopped Salesbury in their tracks.

But 60 not out off 50 balls from Andrew Mercer ensured that the good start did not go totally to waste and a total of 220-9 was something to defend.

In reply, Feniscowles also got off to a good start and at 125 -2 the game could have gone either way. The run out of Jacques Snyman for 57 proved the turning point. Three wickets each for Sam Bristol and Neil Hornbuckle gave Salesbury victory by 20 runs, A knock of 29 from Lee Cunningham ensuring that at least Feniscowles got some useful bonus points despite missing out on that all-important first Senior win.

Bottom Club Earby recorded a valuable win in their match with Baxenden.

Earby looked in all sorts of trouble at 19-5, however 72 not out from Anton Muller and some late support from Jake Hargreaves(24) at least gave them something to bowl at. Gary Sudworth took 5-57. Baxenden got off to the same sort of start reduced to 22-5, but they could not recover despite 25 from Gary Sudworth and were bowled out for 72, Jake Hargreaves complete a good all round day taking match winning figures of 7 for 30.

Brinscall beat Ribblesdale Wanderers by nine wickets. Ribblesdale were bowled out for 95, with Lee Burgess 4-33 and Nick Maiolo 4-32, David Steinson top scoring with 38. Maiolo also got into the action with the bat scoring 64 and with Liam Winstanley(27 no) saw Brinscall home with nearly 25 overs to spare.

In the final Section B match, Barnoldswick beat Padiham by 50 runs. Barnoldwick were bowled out for 176 with Padiham all out for 126 in reply.

Outstanding Performances in Division One and Two

Batting

S Shiraz - Barnoldswick - 55

Ali Akbar – Burnley Belvedere - 56

Bowling

Cameron Holder – Stacksteads - 7-13

Jimmy Gray – Padiham – 6-42