BRETT Pelser is hoping we are still talking about Horwich’s remarkable heist at Westhoughton come mid-September when points become prizes in the Premiership.

Bowled out for 88 at St George’s Oval on Saturday, Pelser and co hit back sensationally to bowl their hosts out for just 62 and secure a 26-run victory.

“It’s a cliche, and I know leagues aren't won this early in the season. But if we’d have lost that, we’d have been two defeats from two and looking more towards the bottom rather than the top,” admitted the South African captain.

“I’d love to be talking to you in six months’ time saying ‘This was the key moment – it got us on a run which won us the league’. That would be incredible.

“But, even if we don't, this game showed us that we’re closer than we thought to pushing for higher honours.

“I said to one of our guys ‘In my time at Horwich, that is one of our better victories’. In terms of my whole career, it’s probably right up there.”

When you glance at the scores, the immediate reaction is that it must have been a bowler’s paradise.

“It’s an unbelievable place to play at Westhoughton, and the wicket actually played really well,” said Pelser, who hit 37 and then took five wickets.

“What I would say is that the batting wasn’t great. But I’d just put that down to early-season rustiness.

“The bowling, you have to give full credit. Both sides bowled fantastically well.

“Barring a few leg-byes and byes, I think there were only three wides in the whole game. That shows both teams were asking a lot of questions.”

As Pelser alluded to earlier, Horwich lost their opening league game last weekend against Walkden when, coincidentally, they were bowled out for 88.

“This is a really proud moment for us as a club,” he continued.

“Last week was bitterly disappointing. They were one down chasing, and we got hammered. It showed a lot of character to bounce back. Amazing.

“Last year, we also had a really good game against Westhoughton and fell just short of winning. Those were a couple of factors which were fresh wounds in our minds.

“So, to turn it around like that was pretty spectacular.

“At halfway, we knew we had to start well with the ball. That was the message. If we could get into their middle order early, anything could happen.

“When we had a few down early, that’s when we started to think ‘We can win here’. We were ruthless.”

Like Horwich, Westhoughton were also 30-1 with the bat, but new ball quick Liam Bones put the skids under them with 4-21 from 13 overs before Pelser added 5-23 from 9.3 overs of gentle medium pace “with a fast bowler’s mentality”.

“Liam was the key man and got us going,” added Pelser.

“His first five overs really set it up alongside Lewis (Haydock), who was brilliant. It took all the pressure off me.

“It was a great game of cricket.”