BRADSHAW edged a thrilling encounter against Atherton on Saturday as both sides looked to bounce back from opening weekend defeats.

The Rigbys outfit put on 130 with Tom Liversedge spearheading the batting attack with 52. The all-rounder achieved his half century from 101 balls but was bowled out with the following delivery.

The bowling attack of Jack Shovelton (3-16), Brenton Parchment (3-36) and Jack Gilluley (3-42) did the damage with the ball.

Opener Callum Barlow hit 26 in reply as Atherton scored 45 runs without losing a wicket in the opening 10 overs.

Safety was key for Dale Tyrer who batted like it was a five-day test match, scoring only two runs off his first 50 balls, before eventually reaching 26 not out from 114 deliveries.

But Tyrer's partners failed to keep their nerve as Shahzaib Khan (4-49) and Liversedge (3-12) tore through the batting line-up, but they showed some resilience meaning just one run was needed for the last wicket.

Khan brought the tense finale to an end by taking number 11 batsman Tim Halliwell to wrap up the win for Bradshaw.

The result delighted Bradshaw captain Nick Lester who revealed the crucial piece of advice offered by Stuart Hornby to professional Khan which won them the game.

Lester said: “It was a tight one. We didn't perform well with the bat again and fell 30 or 40 runs short of our target.

“It's that time of year that brings the types of wickets you just have to dig in on.

“They needed one run from the last wicket and Stuart Hornby said to our pro to bowl it round his legs as we had nothing to lose and like only a pro could do he did it first ball.

“A couple of the senior players including myself are a little rusty but it was good to bounce back.

Atherton captain Paul Walsh said: “It was a really good game. We restricted them well in their innings and got off to a good start but lost our way in the middle order.

“The wicket wasn't the best and there were a few dubious decisions which might not have helped our cause.

“When they began to take the pace off the bowling we struggled and looked dead and buried when on 108 with only one wicket left.

“But our number 11 (Tim Halliwell) came in and hit a few boundaries which gave us hope, but unfortunately we couldn't get over the line.”

Meanwhile, Darcy Lever eased past Tonge to bounce back from their defeat to Heaton last week.

Dominic Gavin (6-14) and Alex Lee (4-21) bowled struggling Tonge all out for 35.

Opening duo Nick Fawcett (20) and Jake Cooper (11) reached the target without losing a wicket.

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STANDISH'S new captain Pankaj Tripathi hailed his team's spirit in coming back from 32-5 to record a memorable victory over Eagley.

The Green Lane outfit were put in to bat first but had to rearrange their order as three players were running late because of work commitments.

But when they arrived the recovery began and Standish finished on 209-7, before bowling Eagley all out for 127.

The victory left Tripathi delighted with bouncing back from last weekend's defeat to Blackrod.

“This is sport, every dog has its day and it was ours today,” Tripathi said. “After last week's defeat to Blackrod I said to the lads 'lets play with pride and don't just bow down and accept it'.

“When they had us at 32-5 they would have been thinking that they would have bowled us out for under 100 and been singing Hallelujah, but cricket is a funny game.

“Three players turned up late because of work which unsettled us a little bit. We had to change around our batting order and with two of our major batters missing we were all hoping we could scrape to 140 or 150.

“150 is a fighting score, not a winning score. We knew if we could achieve that then it would give us a very good chance to get something out of the game.

“We have a new player called (Shahrukh) Khan, he didn't throw caution to the wind, he hit some big shots and although he only scored 20 he gave us the self belief which enabled us to kick on to 209 – which was more than our target of 150.”

Aaron Clarke hit 27 for Standish and professional Usman Khushnood drove up the score with a knock of 71.

Jack Heaton then added 26 late on despite impressive bowling from Agha Salman (5-63).

Salman struck 32 when he turned his hand to the bat and Asif Bhojani produced the goods once again for Eagley with 57.

But Clarke (4-27) and the bowling attack had Eagley all out for 127.

And the Standish captain is now hoping his side will carry this momentum into the next few games.

Tripathi added: “We can now kick on and get two or three wins together if our players string performances together.

“Eagley did that last weekend and they would have thought they would roll us over today.

“We have got a team which is a little bit unsure about the move to the Bolton League but day by day we are getting more self-confident.

“We want our team to hold our own in this division, we don't want to be overawed.

“If we get six or seven victories throughout the season then that will be considered a success. We don't expect to be challenging up near the top.”

Eagley captain Danny Counsell, whose side won back-to-back matches last weekend, said his team know they underperformed.

He said: “It was rubbish. Everyone knew as soon as we came off the pitch and it won't happen again.”

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AIDEN Markram starred with the bat and ball for Walkden as they maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a win against Daisy Hill.

Opener Markram scored 80 runs off 71 balls – including six sixes – as the Oval side racked up a total of 181-8.

Professional Adnan Raees did the most damage with the ball for Daisy, taking 4-73.

Umer Qadri (31) and Amjid Khan (28 not out) led the reply but Markram (3-61) and Sayed Shah (4-13) bowled Daisy out for 123.

Rain reduced Kearsley's clash with Farnworth Social Circle to 25 overs.

Naz Ahmed top scored for the Springfield Road side with 27 as they posted a total of 101-9.

Chris Barrow did most of the damage, taking five wickets for 43 runs, while Dave Mather chipped in with figures of 3-23.

Jake Scicluna was the only batter of note for Social Circle, striking 24, but with the majority of batsmen hitting double figures they reached their target with four wickets remaining.

Blackrod recorded back-to-back wins with a comfortable victory against Adlington.

Majid Majeed shone for the Huyton Road outfit with 71 not out but Thushendra de Zoysa starred with the ball, taking 5-59, bowling Adlington out for 139.

De Zoysa turned his hand to the bat and scored 37 not out and wicketkeeper Zak Burton hit 34 as Blackrod chased down a revised target of 127 for the loss of four wickets.

Rakeb Mahmood's seven-wicket haul for 28 runs helped Astley Bridge to victory against Little Hulton.

The Sharples Park outfit were bowled out for 127 as Shaukat Patel (5-52) and Imran Butt (4-67) caused havoc with the ball.

But the former Bolton Association side struggled to deal with the bowling of Mahmood and were dismissed for 54.

Saturday's results

Adlington 139 Blackrod 127-4. Blackrod won by 6 wkts (revised target).

Bradshaw 130 Atherton 129. Bradshaw won by 1 run.

Daisy Hill 123 Walkden 181-8. Walkden won by 58 runs.

Darcy Lever 37-0 Tonge 35. Darcy Lever won by 10 runs.

Farnworth v Heaton abandoned.

Horwich v Westhoughton abandoned.

Kearsley 101-9 Farnworth Social Circle 105-6. Farnworth Social Circle won by 4 wkts.

Little Hulton 55 Astley Bridge 127. Astley Bridge won by 72 runs.

Little Lever v Lostock abandoned.

Standish 209-7 Eagley 127. Standish won by 82 runs.