Social Circle posted 284-8 from their 45 overs but lost by four wickets with three overs to spare.
Bajan professional Jameel Stuart posted an excellent 126 for the visitors, only to be undone by a stunning 82 not out off 49 balls from wicketkeeper-batter Tom Turner. He came in at 137-5 and shared half-century stands with Owen Deakin-Pickard and Ben Swindells.
Turner crashed seven fours and six sixes to help Padiham claim the win after their opening game at Farnworth was cancelled following wet weather. Earlier, Padiham’s local pro Iftikhar Naseer struck three times with the ball.
In the Championship, Cherry Tree beat Ribblesdale Wanderers by one wicket off the last ball chasing 177, four byes from Jordan Britcliffe to Andreas Sudnik securing the victory for the visitors. They have now won one lost one.
Local pro Mini Bhada took four wickets to limit Ribblesdale to 176-9 before top-scoring with 37 in reply. Cherry Tree were 160-9 before last pair Sudnik with 11 and Daniel Logan with four helped get them over the line.
Former England Test fast bowler Ajmal Shahzad – sub-pro’ing for Eagley – took the new ball and ran through Oswaldtwistle Immanuel with 6-38 from 14.3 overs as the hosts were bowled out for 116.
Eagley went on to win by five wickets, with opener Jack Wainman starring with 87 off 56 balls.
The Eagles have now won one and lost one to start the season.
Back in the Premiership, another one-wicket win – in even more thrilling circumstances – went to last year’s runners-up Read, who chased 307 to win at home against Farnworth with two balls to spare.
This was a match which saw two centurions. Liam Smith was in fine touch for 127 off 106 balls in Farnworth’s 306-6 before Sri Lankan pro Sehan Weerasinghe only just bettered him with 128 off 103.
But Read, who fell to 258-8 and 299-9, were indebted to number 10 Ben Woodall’s 31 not out with three sixes. He hit Nakash Qamar for a straight six to win it.
Read have now won two from two and are the early Premiership pace-setters alongside Little Lever, who beat Tonge by 11 runs on the road in another exciting encounter.
They posted 212 all out. South African overseas amateur Jade Smith opened with 64 and Adil Nisar contributed 69. Tonge then fell from 125-3 to finish on 201-9. Nisar struck three times to cap his impressive day.
And there was more…
Blackrod, top-flight champions in 2024, won away at Salesbury by eight runs in a bowler-dominated game. They have won one, lost one so far.
Bowled out for 133, including Sri Lankan pro Kavindu Kulasekara’s innings-high 25, Blackrod then hit back superbly. They were inspired by new-ball seamer Matthew Readey’s four wickets as Salesbury were bowled out for 125.
Astley Bridge got their first win at the second attempt, at home against a Barnoldswick side who won promotion alongside them last September.
Bridge’s strong 266-7 was centred around opener Millen Patel’s well-paced 96 before Joe Ducker struck three times in Barnoldswick’s 249-9 reply. They had been well-placed at 146-2.
Finally in the Premiership, Kearsley’s first win came in convincing fashion away at Lostock – by 72 runs.
Chris Lane top-scored with 74 in their 219-7 before Geeth Kumara stood out with 5-37 to help bowl Lostock out for 147.
Baxenden are the only side to have won two from two in the Championship. They were nine-run winners at Atherton, who were bowled out for 129 chasing 139.
Baxenden’s captain Aneeq Hassan contributed 64 in their 138 all out before he struck twice with the ball in a successful defence. Their hero with the ball, however, was local pro Ben Gorton, who returned an outstanding 5-13 from 11 overs.
Finally, Brinscall are up and running following a nine-run win of their own, at home to Walkden in another game which saw ball dominate bat.
Brinscall were bowled out for just 122, including Sri Lankan pro Ravindu Rathnayake’s 49 not out. In pursuit, Walkden collapsed from 37-0 to 113 all out.
Rathnayake and Bajan OA Lamar Springer shared the new ball and nine wickets, the latter leading the way with 5-62.
Saturday May 2, fixtures. Premiership – Barnoldswick v Tonge, Blackrod v Astley Bridge, Farnworth v Salesbury, Farnworth Social Circle v Read, Kearsley v Padiham, Little Lever v Lostock. Championship – Brinscall v Atherton, Cherry Tree v Walkden, Eagley v Ribblesdale Wanderers, Earby v Oswaldtwistle Immanuel.
Read skipper Will Wrathall laughed when he received the call to chat for this week’s match of the round feature and joked: “I reckon there’s a few captains looking at their phones waiting for you to ring them this weekend.”
Too true!
Choosing a game to concentrate on from Saturday’s second round of this summer’s Anthony Axford North West Cricket League was certainly a toughie, with a raft of thrilling finishes to choose from.
But Wrathall’s Read rightly took top billing, with deserved interjections from Padiham captain Toby Burrows and Cherry Tree’s Andreas Sudnik as well.
Read won by one wicket with two balls to spare chasing 307 at home to Farnworth to win their second successive Premiership match, and it was a policeman who hit the winning six.
“We feel we’ve strengthened massively this year,” said opening batter Wrathall, whose side finished runners-up to Farnworth Social Circle last summer.
“But, numbers wise, we’re actually one down because we’ve signed three and lost four.
“Last week, I picked Dom Heyes from the second team (in the win at Blackrod). But he wasn’t available this weekend, and I went for Ben Woodall instead.”
Before we go any further, let us look at the nuts and bolts of this fixture, which was Farnworth’s first after their opening round game at home to Padiham was called off last Saturday following wet weather.
Liam Smith hit an excellent 127 off 106 balls in Farnworth’s 306-6 before Sri Lankan pro Sehan Weerasinghe only just bettered him with 128 off 103.
But Read, who fell to 258-8 and 299-9, were indebted to number 10 Woodall’s 31 not out with three sixes. He hit Nakash Qamar for a straight six to win it.
“He’s hit it into the crowd where our outdoor bar is,” said Wrathall. “I didn’t think he’d got it at first, but it kept going. I actually said to Ben, ‘Did you think you’d got that?’ He said, ‘No’.
“Ben’s actually a policeman, and he was working at 8.30pm so unfortunately couldn’t stay for the celebrations.
“To be fair, it was an amazing game. I know Read’s a small ground, but 600 runs on an April wicket is some going.”
Wrathall went on: “When we came in at halfway, we hadn’t bowled or fielded well. But we were so positive. And I said to the lads, ‘If we bat the overs, I promise you now that we’ll win’.
“Their scorer also said to me, ‘I bet you wish you’d have batted first now’.
“But I jokingly said that they were 10 runs light. And, fair play to him, he came to me at the end and said, ‘You were right’.
“Liam, their former overseas amateur, played really well, and he stayed on afterwards and had a few beers with our lads. Every credit to him.
“Sehan, he just sorted of ticked along to 40. But after that he just went ‘boom’, got us back on track and set the game up for the lads down the other end.
“He definitely put us in a great position to go on and win it.”
Read’s signings include former Lostock captain James Evans, and they are aiming for one better in the league in 2026 after just missing out last summer.
“I don’t want to get too carried away because we got a bit carried away last year and ended up bottling it a bit,” added Wrathall. “But there is a real buzz about the side.
“The beauty is that every single one of our lads can bat. So, whilst we have two lads out there, we’ve got half a chance in any game.
“We’ve got Farnworth Social, the champions, away next week. We obviously all know what Jameel Stuart can do to you. But we’re looking forward to it.”
Hosts Padiham beat champions Farnworth Social Circle by four wickets chasing 285, thanks largely to a buccaneering middle-order 82 not out off 49 balls from wicketkeeper-batter Tom Turner.
As aforementioned, Padiham’s opening game at Farnworth was not played following wet weather, while Social Circle have now won one and lost one.
Padiham captain Burrows said: “We know Tom’s capable of that. He did it a couple of times last year.
“We’re looking forward to the season. We know how competitive the league is, and this is a good marker for us.”
And, in the Championship, Cherry Tree beat Ribblesdale Wanderers by one wicket off the last ball chasing 177, four byes from Jordan Britcliffe to captain Andreas Sudnik securing the victory for the visitors. They have now won one lost one.
Local pro Mini Bhada took four wickets to limit Ribblesdale to 176-9 before top-scoring with 37 in reply. Cherry Tree were 160-9 before last pair Sudnik with 11 and Daniel Logan with four helped get them over the line.
Sudnik added: “Wow. What a game. I thought we were dead and buried needing 20-odd off two and a bit overs. It was a tough ask on not the easiest of wickets.
