by Bill Slinger
North – Group 1
Barnoldswick v Foulridge
Foulridge batted first and got off to a decent start with 27 for the first wicket, however two run outs and two other wickets reduced them to 27-4. Muhammad Hussain 23 and Imran Qamar 25 enabled Foulridge to post something to bowl at being 95 all out in the last over. Fezaan Imitaz had the remarkable figures of six wickets for just one run.
Openers Jonny Beech and Moazzam Basat (23) added 51 for the first wicket. Beech who ended on 40 not out was joined by Trent Riddell who made 31 not out as Barnoldswick ran out 9 wicket winners with 7 overs to spare.
Padiham v Read
Read won the toss and elected to bat. The innings was dominated by a 3rd wicket partnership of 103, between Will Wrathall 30 and Diego Rosier 77 including 11 fours and 2 sixes. Declan Bailey added late runs with 24 off 16 deliveries in a total off 16 deliveries in a total of 171-4.
In reply, Padiham were bowled out for 100, Zander Van Tonder made 33, Joseph Halstead took 4 wickets for just 11 runs as Read ran out comfortable winners by 71 runs.
Ribblesdale Wanderers v Earby
Earby won the toss and elected to field. Ribblesdale made 156-5 mainly due to an innings of 86 not out by Ryan Canning including 9 fours and 4 sixes. He got late support from Mack Spencer with 24 not out off just 12 deliveries.
Earby got off to a very poor start and were reduced to 18-5. Only Luke Hipgrave and Joseph Robinson both with 12 made double figures as Earby were all out for just 59, giving Ribblesdale a 97 run win. Jack Fielding took 5-22 and Hasan Dhanuska 4-14.
Read lead the group with 3 wins out of 3, with Ribblesdale Wanderers and Barnoldswick with two wins each.
North Group 2
Salesbury v Cherry Tree
On Thursday evening, Salesbury won the toss and elected to field, on a pitch that had been covered due to the afternoon rain. Despite the weather forecast suggesting a dry evening, the rain twice interrupted the Cherry Tree innings, the second time concluding the innings on 78-4 after 15.2 overs. Sub Pro Ocket Erasmus top scored with 22 not out.
The rain stopped and after some mopping up and allowing the ground to dry, the DLS calculation gave Salesbury a target of 64 off 10 overs.
Opener Toby Furbush was out for nought, however his partner Garnett Tarr made a quick fire 31 off just 20 deliveries, when he was out the hitting continued with Connor Nel as he made 31 not out off just 20 deliveries including 3 fours and two sixes, the latter six to win the match with 3 overs to spare.
Whalley v Barrowford
Whalley won the toss and elected to field. They quickly reduced Barrowford to 8-5. Shuja Rashid 30 and Callum Atkinson 23 ensured that Barrowford had something to bowl at ending on 109-9. Joshua Dentith taking four wickets for just two runs.
Whalley lost Professional Levi Wolfenden for nought and were made to work hard for their runs. Stuart Crabtree made 45 and in a tense finish the match went to the last ball, when Whalley just got over the winning line to win by four wickets. Abdul Ahad took 3-12.
Salesbury lead the Group with 3 wins out of 3, Baxenden and Whalley have two wins each.
