EGERTON closed the gap on Greater Manchester Cricket League leaders Prestwich to two points following a narrow win against Denton St Lawrence.

Prestwich fell to their second defeat of the season at Denton West.

But after opener Zain Abbas got Egerton off to a decent start with 24 it looked like the Bolton side would fail to capitalise on their rivals' dropped points as they suffered a middle-order collapse and were reduced to 52-6.

Paul Stafford (34) steadied the ship before skipper Will Halton hit a crucial 34 not out to post a more respectable score of 128-7 in the rain reduced 39-over game.

Ben Tighe took 3-29 for Denton St Lawrence and Nathan Keoh top scored in their reply with 28, but a superb bowling display from Abbas (5-20) swung the game back in Egerton's favour as they bowled out their opponents 18 runs short of the target.

Edgworth helped their bid to avoid relegation from the top-flight with a 49-run victory at home to former Bolton League side Greenmount.

Opener Simon Lord scored 32 before Liam Watkinson smashed 72, which included 10 boundaries.

Summit Panda added 57 as Edgworth ran up a total of 262-7.

Mark Stewart did the most damage with the ball, taking 5-78.

Ryan Senior (57), Travis Townsend (44) and Danny Hornby (39) all starred with the bat in reply, but Adam Syddall (5-49) spearheaded the bowling attack, which restricted the visitors to 213-9.

In the First Division, Astley and Tyldesley suffered a final-over defeat to Walshaw.

Paul Bennett scored an unbeaten 101 as the Gin Pit outfit put on 210-9. Wicketkeeper Alex Heaton also chipped in with 45.

While Bennett was in imperious form, Walshaw bowler Kendrick Hatton had the wickets tumbling at the opposite end, taking 5-70.

Former Eagley star Saif Bhojani top scored with 80 in reply, which with the help of Ally Dickson (39) and Nick Murphy (37) ensured Walshaw passed their target with five balls and five wickets remaining.

Sam Lowe and Graham Capstick took two wickets apiece for Astley and Tyldesley.

Results

Egerton 128-7, Denton St. Lawrence 110. Egerton won by 18 runs.

Edgworth 262-7, Greenmount 213-9. Edgworth won by 49 runs.

Astley and Tyldesley 210-9, Walshaw 213-5. Walshaw won by five wickets.