Lancashire Knock Out Defeat at Opening Stage

Westhoughton's Lancashire Knock Out campaign began, and ultimately ended, against Saddleworth and District Cricket League champions Glodwick.
The visitors asked the hosts to bat first and this looked to be a fantastic choice when Dan Naylor and Rob Brown were both dismissed for 0 as Westhoughton were 3-2 off 2 overs. The innings needed rebuilding and a partnership was formed between Rob Houghton (25) and pro Qaiser Abbas who continued his excellent form from Saturday to record back-to-back centuries. The partnership was worth 95 before Rob was bowled. Mark Atherton contributed 12 before Oliver Newby joined Qaiser at the crease. The two added 56 for the 5th wicket before Qaiser departed for exactly 100. Newby finished 47* as Westhoughton were 210-5 at the end of their 45 overs and were hopeful of being able to defend such a total given the strength of the bowling attack.
Some tight bowling early on saw Glodwick make slow but steady progress as they were 76-2 after 25 overs. They managed to keep wickets in hand and ultimately that meant they could take the attack to the Westhoughton bowlers as despite the best efforts of Newby (0-19 from 7) and Qaiser (1-28 from 9) all the other bowlers went for at least 5 runs per over as Glodwick reached the total with 3 overs to spare. Kieran, Matt Fanning and Rob Brown also picked up a wicket apiece and despite the disappointing defeat the lads will need to bounce back quickly with some big games on the horizon.