LOSTOCK captain Geoff Earle expressed his pride in his side after they became the first to defeat Farnworth this season.

The underdogs produced the shock of the season with a six-wicket win which knocked title-chasing Farnworth down to third in the table.

David Flanagan starred with the ball for Lostock bowling a six-wicket haul for 49 while Tom Sheen took 3-24.

Opener Adil Nisar struck 21 and Johnny Davis scored 30 not out late on but the Lavender Road side were bowled out for 87.

Farnworth took a couple of early wickets but Jaydyn Simmons (19), Peter Flanagan (18), Mark Cregan (20 not out) and Nick Jeffs (16 not out) saw off the target with six wickets to spare.

The win made skipper Earle gleam with pride.

“I am really proud of the club for the way we have bounced back from last week,” he said. “I am delighted with the win and to become the first team to beat Farnworth this year.

“We couldn't have done it without the bowling of Dave Flanagan and Tom Sheen. Those guys were excellent and won us the game.

“A couple of their guys hit a couple of poor shots but credit to our bowlers who were terrific on the day.”

Meanwhile, Farnworth Social Circle took full advantage to extend their lead at the top of the table with a comfortable victory against Astley Bridge.

Dave Mather bowled another six-wicket haul, making it three in three games, as Astley Bridge were dismissed for 98.

Jake Scicluna knocked 30 in reply as the target was seen off with the loss of two wickets.

And on extending their lead at the top, Farnworth Social Circle captain Matt Parkinson said his team were solely focusing on their own results.

“It was an excellent win but there is still a long way to go yet. We are taking it one game at a time and just looking to keep this run going and we have another tough game against Heaton next weekend and we will try to win that.

“We don't pay too much attention to other results, we just focus on what we have to do, but someone mentioned that Farnworth got beat at the end of our game and it was a nice unexpected surprise.

“It extends our cushion to 13 or 14 points now which is always a positive.”

Walkden also benefited from Farnworth's loss as they moved up to second in the table following their six-wicket win away to Heaton.

Haroon Farhat scored 67 and Mustafa Bashir knocked 23 as the Lower Pools outfit were bowled out for 161. Jonathan Fowler (4-50) and Sayed Shah (3-47) did the damage with the ball.

The league's leading run-scorer Aiden Markram, who is fast approaching 1,000 runs this campaign, knocked 15 fours as he raced to 78, and opening partner Taylor Hayes added 33 as they saw off the target for the loss of four wickets.

ADLINGTON knocked a boundary off the last ball to record a memorable late victory against Daisy Hill on Saturday.

Struggling with a score of 65-6, Daisy were thankful when late batsmen Amjid Khan (51) and Stephen Hodgkinson (45) entered the crease and built an 89-run partnership which boosted the score to 170-8.

Majid Majeed did the most damage with the ball taking 4-62.

Opener Steven Wright knocked 32 but only Majeed provided sufficient back-up with a score of 73 not out.

And it was the Huyton Road outfit's professional who won the game at the death. Needing nine off the last over Majeed knocked two twos in quick succession, but tight bowling from Daisy professional Adnan Raees left the batsman needing five off the last ball.

To the disbelief of all players, Raees then bowled a no ball which allowed Majeed to smash a four and win the game for Adlington.

Adlington skipper Jon Howells was stunned by the finish to the game and he also hailed match-winner Majeed.

“It was a bit ridiculous” he said. “It was a real up and down game. They were 60-odd for six at one point and finished on 170 and then we did the same, struggled at the beginning and picked it up later on.

“We needed five to win off the last ball and their pro bowled a no ball but Majeed made a great knock and he had great support from the lads at the tail end.

“Majeed is a top pro who we know really well and he has been with us for a long time. We have a lot of people who can support him like Iain Critchley and Simon Trim and we have a really good team spirit.

“The top half of the table is the plan and we are definitely pushing for that but we have some very big games coming up.”

Elsewhere, professional Agha Salman bowled a six-wicket haul as Eagley cruised past Blackrod.

Salman (6-37) was instrumental in dismissing the visitors for just 76 runs. Thusendra de Zoysa top scored with the bat hitting 21.

Michael Ward knocked 31 not out in reply and skipper Asif Bhojani added 27 as the target was seen off for the loss off two wickets.

Qaisar Abbas starred with the bat and ball as Westhoughton bowled Golborne all out for 112.

Chinthaka Mahadurage knocked 30 and David Szostok added 26 but Golborne failed to deal with Abbas' bowling where he took 6-37.

When Abbas turned his hand to the bat he knocked 40 not out as the Howfeners wrapped up the win with eight wickets to spare.

Jack Shovelton starred with the ball for Atherton as they recorded a routine victory against Tonge.

Kamran Usmani top scored with 19 with the bat but Shovelton (5-31) spearheaded a bowling attack with saw Tonge dismissed for 69.

Amar Ullah (22) and Callum Barlow (21) led the way with the bat for Atherton as they secured a six-wicket win.

LITTLE Lever secured the bragging rights over neighbours Darcy Lever as they picked up their fourth win in a row.

Curtis Anderton hit 34 and Zafir Gohar knocked 33 as the Victory Road side put on a score of 146. Cameron Murray (4-26) and Dominic Gavin (3-54) did the damage with the ball.

Murray knocked 31 when the turned his hand to the bat, but Anderton (4-27) and Gohar (3-37) replicated their batting form with the ball to bowl Darcy all out for 64.

Elsewhere, Tom Liversedge starred with the bat and ball for Bradshaw as they eased past Standish.

Zulqanain Khan top scored with 24 as Standish were bowled out for 108 as Liversedge took five wickets for 28 runs.

When he turned his hand to the bat he struck 40, which, along with Jake O’Byrne’s 36, wrapped up the win with six wickets to spare.

But Standish captain Pankaj Tripathi was pleased with the effort his depleted team showed.

He said: “We had a lot of youngsters and second-team players in our squad and I thought they put up a good fight against a good Bradshaw side.

“We are a weak side and we don’t expect to win games like this but I thought we gave a good account of ourselves.”

Horwich recorded a comfortable eight-wicket win away to Little Hulton.

Imran Butt scored 68 not out for the hosts, who were playing with only 10 men, but extras made up for the shortage in numbers adding 29 to the tally.

Liam Bones (4-34), Phil Ingram (2-29) and Lewis Haydock (2-13) all played their part in dismissing Little Hulton for 141.

Ingram knocked a half-century when he turned his hand to the bat. But it was the partnership of Joe Baldwin (40 not out) and deputy professional Zafir Patel (38 not out) which drove home the victory.

Results

Adlington 171-9, Daisy Hill 170-8. Adlington won by 1 wkt.

Astley Bridge 98, Farnworth Social Circle 100-2. Farnworth Social Circle won by 8 wkts.

Darcy Lever 64, Little Lever 146. Little Lever won by 82 runs.

Eagley 79-2, Blackrod 76. Eagley won by 8 wkts.

Farnworth 87, Lostock 89-4. Lostock won by 6 wkts.

Golborne 112, Westhoughton 113-2. Westhoughton won by 8 wkts.

Heaton 161, Walkden 162-4. Walkden won by 6 wkts.

Little Hulton 141, Horwich 143-2. Horwich won by 8 wkts.

Standish 108, Bradshaw 109-4. Bradshaw won by 6 wkts.

Tonge 69, Atherton 74-4. Atherton won by 6 wkts.