MAJID Majeed’s seven-wicket haul was not enough for Adlington to stop in-form Lostock.

Majeed’s figures of 7-54 came inside 24 overs – which included seven maidens – helping to bowl Lostock out for 126.

Jaydyn Simmons was the only batsman of note knocking 59.

But Adlington’s reply was disastrous as David Flanagan (6-21) and Tom Sheen (4-19) bowled the Huyton Road side out for a shockingly low score of 41.

Big-hitting Blackrod secured a 97-run victory against basement side Tonge.

Joey Pryle (33), Thushendra De Zoysa (78), Tom Mather (39), Zak Burton (31) and Joe Speak (40 not out) all made good contributions with the bat as the Vicarage Road side posted a target of 265-7.

Mohammad Arif did the most damage with the ball, taking 3-47.

For Tonge, Syed Shah scored 41 and Ather Abid added 47.

Ultimately though, they could not deal with the fine bowling of De Zoysa, who took 6-68 to bowl them out for 168.

Agha Salman knocked 61 for Eagley as they took Heaton right to the wire. Danny Counsell added 36 to the professional’s knock to post a score of 152.

Sam Hardman led the response, scoring 74 not out and David Hamilton added 22 as Heaton wrapped up victory with three wickets remaining.

Stand-in professional Babar Naeem starred with the bat and ball for Bradshaw as they eased past Daisy Hill.

Naeem (4-21) spearheaded the bowling attack which bowled the visitors out for 109. Phil Dickinson also took 3-35.

In Bradshaw’s reply, Naeem top-scored with 51 to see off the target with seven wickets to spare.

Danny Naylor and Qaiser Abbas both struck centuries for Westhoughton as they proved unstoppable against Little Hulton.

Opener Naylor knocked his maiden career century with a score of 123, and he was soon joined at the crease by professional Abbas who scored 127 not out as they ran up a tally of 297-2.

It was always an uphill task to respond, but Imran Butt set about it the right way, hitting 77 and Jitu Singh and Shoaib Mohammed each added 33 but the overs expired with Little Hulton stranded on 177-9.

Charlie Honour was the pick of the Howfeners’ bowlers, posting figures of 4-66.

After the match Westhoughton skipper Rob Houghton praised his fierce batting duo and backed young Naylor to continue his

fine form during the final run-in.

“They are both fantastic players,” Houghton said. “Qaiser is a class professional and everybody already knows what he’s about.

“It was Danny’s first career century and it was long overdue. I would go as far as saying he was probably the best player in the league to have not scored a century before today.

“He is one of the many players that we have bred through our youth team and has been with the first team for six years now.

“I’m sure he will kick on and it will be the first of many for him.”

Houghton also reserved praise for Little Hulton, who battled on when it seemed impossible to come back.

He added: “Little Hulton continued to fight with the bat and had a really good go at it, they deserve every credit.”

Elsewhere, the Bolton League leaders Farnworth Social Circle warmed up for their Hamer Cup final clash with Walkden with a dominating victory against Golborne.

Opener David Tonge scored 42 and Jake Scicluna added 33. Ryan Ayres top scored with 46 as the Piggott Park outfit were bowled out for 180.

Muzammil Nizam did the most damage with the ball, taking 5-38, before contributing 16 with the bat. But no one else made it into double figures as Golborne were dismissed for 61, with Dave Mather (5-26) and Ayres (4-22) inflicting the damage with the ball.

Second-placed Walkden continued their magnificent form with a six-wicket win against Darcy Lever.

Cameron Murray (43), Shaun Brooks (25) and Scott Burns (38no) hit decent scores as Darcy ran up a total of 164-9. Jonathan Fowler was the main bowler with 3-28.

Opener Aiden Markram and Taylor Hayes hit 48 and 45 respectively in reply, before Aman Arora smashed an unbeaten 64 to wrap up a six-wicket win.

Farnworth remain third in the league table following a comfortable 111-run victory against Atherton.

Ross Sutton hit 52 as the Lavender Road outfit put on a total of 188-9 while Josh Gilluley finished with 4-37.

Gilluley then hit 22 in Atherton’s reply, the same score as opener Amar Ullah.

But no other Atherton batsman achieved double figures and they were bowled out for 77, with Dinuka Hettiarachchi taking 4-31.

Bowlers took centre stage as Horwich hosted Kearsley in a low-scoring affair.

Horwich’s Brett Pelser bowled a five-wicket haul for 20 runs in 16 overs, seven of which were maidens, as the visitors were dismissed for 98.

Mohammed Jameel top-scored for the Springfield Road side with 34, before taking two wickets for 38 runs with the ball.

Kearsley’s bowling attack was spearheaded by Faisal Hussain who took 4-39 to bowl Horwich out for 92 and secure a six-run victory.

Heading for the home stretch, the victory leaves Kearsley “two or three wins” away from a top-10 finish, according to skipper Grant Cordin.

He said: “We won the toss and elected to bat which seemed a poor decision at first as we were struggling, but our number nine Mohammed Jameel came in and his 30 was massive.

“It was still a low score but our bowlers did very well. Hussain was excellent, as was Jameel, and we are pleased with the result.

“It has been a poor season given our standards but we were messed around a bit by the pro who told us a week before the season that he wasn’t going to join us and it took us half a season to get one sorted.

“To finish in the top 10 was always the main aim and I think we are about two or three wins away with five games to go.”

Little Lever moved to within four points of the top 10 with a vital win at home to Standish.

Zafir Gohar top-scored for the hosts with 62 and Adam Carter added 42. Late on Dave Bath chipped in with 33 not out as the Victory Road side ran up a tally of 225.

Zulqanain Khan (5-41) took the majority of the wickets and Chris Gunn bowled 3-80.

In reply Usman Khushnood knocked 59 but Standish were limited to 163-9 thanks to tight bowling from Curtis Anderton (5-44).

Results

Adlington 41, Lostock 126. Lostock won by 85 runs.

Atherton 77, Farnworth 188-9. Farnworth won by 111 runs.

Blackrod 265-7, Tonge 168. Blackrod won by 97 runs.

Bradshaw 111-3, Daisy Hill 109. Bradshaw won by seven wkts.

Eagley 152, Heaton 156-7. Heaton won by three wkts.

Farnworth Social Circle 180, Golborne 61. Farnworth Social Circle won by 119 runs.

Horwich 92, Kearsley 98. Kearsley won by six runs.

Little Lever 225, Standish 163-9. Little Lever won by 62 runs.

Walkden 167-4, Darcy Lever 164-9. Walkden won by six wkts.

Westhoughton 297-2, Little Hulton 177-9. Westhoughton won by 120 runs.