One Step Closer

On an overcast afternoon, Westhoughton travelled to Bradshaw knowing that a victory would all but see Bradshaw out of the running for a LKO place. At 39-3 and 68-4, Westhoughton looked to be struggling with Rob Houghton (6), Atiq Uz-Zaman (8), Qaiser Abbas and Dan Naylor (both 11) all out. It was left to Ian Pilkington and Kieran Paisley to share a partnership of 144 to take Westhoughton to 212 as Pilky reached 104 from 133 balls, and Kieran 71 from 93 balls. Westhoughton finished 237-7 from their 50 overs.
Due to a previous rain interruption during the Westhoughton innings, Bradshaw had to chase a reduced total of 211 from 41 overs. They got off to a terrible start as they were 1-2 after Kieran Edwards (4-66 from 15 overs) dismissed both openers in his second over. Qaiser Abbas (2-36 from 14 overs) offered control from the other end and between the two dismissed 6 of Bradshaw's top 7 batters. Dan Reeve (3-21 from 3.4 overs) and Paul Hart (1-30 from 3 overs) also picked up wickets to secure a well earned victory for the away side as Bradshaw finished 163 all out.