ATHERTON took a huge step towards securing the Association title when they won their top-of-the-table duel with Flixton at Lawrence Road.

An eight-wicket win extended Atherton’s lead over the Manchester side to 27 points as Jimmy Damjanovski took 6-62 and Jamar Griffith 3-84 as Flixton, chasing a win that could have cut the deficit to just one point, were bowled out for 151, Brad Holmes the top scorer with 31.

Damjanovski then hit 50, Griffith 30 not out and Neil Bannister an unbeaten 45 as Atherton knocked off the required runs. Edgworth, who started the weekend third in the table, dropped to fifth after being outgunned by fourth-bottom Astley and Tyldesley.

Jimmy Cutt and Hemant Patel came together at 37-2 and the Gin Pit duo took total control, both hitting unbeaten centuries – 102 and 107 respectively – to score 252-2.

Edgworth’s Jaco Fourie led the charge with 73 and Liam Watkinson (44) and Denver Thornton (30) in support. But they fell 37 runs short, bowled out for 215 with Cutt claiming 5-65 and Jordan O’Malley 3-70.

Adlington had a seven-wicket home win against Daisy Hill for whom Adil Ali was unbeaten on 47. Majid Majeed did the damage with 5- 27.

Tom Foster (48no) and Simon Trim (27no) steered Adlington home with 21 overs to spare. Tushendra de Zoyza led second-bottom Blackrod to a second successive win with an impressive 64-run defeat of Little Hulton. The Sri Lankan hit 130 – his highest score of the season – as Blackrod reached 209-8 and took 4-41 and with Matthew Stears (4-58) as the home were bowled out for 145, Atif Ali Zaidi (52) the only batsman to show any serious resistance.

Standish skipper Sam Heeley led from the front in a six-wicket win at Darcy Lever, taking 7-55 as the hosts were bowled out for 116. Then he hit an unbeaten 50 and Uzman Kushnood hit 34. Bury won their derby duel at Elton thanks to Mumtaz Mirza (50) and Alex Breckin (31) who helped them post a respectable 205-9, Mark Goddard the best of the home bowlers with 4-50 from 10 overs.

Breckin then proved his worth, taking 3-26 as Elton were dismissed for 146 inside 39 overs – Stephen Ward top scoring with 50.

Results

Adlington 96-3 Daisy Hill 94. Adlington won by 7 wkts.
Astley & Tyldesley 252-2 Edgworth 215. A&T won by 37 runs.
Darcy Lever 116 Standish 117-4. Standish won by 6 wkts.
Flixton 151 Atherton 153-2. Atherton won by 8wkts.
Elton 146 Bury 205-9. Bury won by 59 runs.
Little Hulton 145 Blackrod 209-8. Blackrod won by 64 runs.
Walshaw 315-4 Golborne 97. Walshaw won by 218 runs.