ROUNDERS: The second week of the rounders season produced several close finishes and nail-biting moments, not least being the Section K match between The Grapes B and Bolton Rugby Club Ladies.

Trailing 91-51 after the first innings, The Grapes raised their game to score 154 in the second innings, led by L Hardman with 39. Bolton Rugby Club scored the required 115 for victory.

Three runs separated Heaton XI and Freedom Ladies in Section F, but in this case, Freedom just failed to recover from a 31-run deficit and lost by 240-237.

It was a similar story as KC Ladies lost by seven runs to Darcy Lever C&SC D in Section G after trailing by 20. The Section L game between Ladies Taverners and Shop Direct saw an identical situation with Ladies Taverners leading by 20 runs and the visitors making a spirited effort, but losing by seven.

The Section E match between Price’s A and Adlington CC was yet another following the pattern. Price’s led 128-87 at the interval, but were dismissed for just 59 in their second innings. Adlington then raised their game with four players in double figures as they added 95 to their total, but fell five short of grabbing a point.

Fernhill Farm Stables’ fightback against Farnworth CC in Section J was a much more dramatic affair. Farnworth cruised to a 146-56 lead in the first innings, so Fernhill were forced to follow on. They hit form as N Brannon scored 47 and E Leece 45 to take their total to 192, leaving the home side needing 47 to win, but the 10 Farnworth CC players did the necessary to run out 207-192 winners.

Not all the matches, however, were close and a few went to the other extreme. Two Section N matches were won by an innings with the victors scoring more than 300 runs. Lostock Roofing Ladies beat Queen Bees by 309-101, but being the home team, they batted first and not knowing their opponents, played out the innings with four batter hitting double figures — 37, 54, 74 and 84. That proved too much for Queen Bees who were then dismissed for 29, but fared better in their second innings when they scored 72.

In the other high-scoring game, Smithills Farm Ladies scored 364 in their one innings after dismissing The Grapes C for just 62. With one player scoring 109 and another 79, they were perhaps over cautious in not declaring. But The Grapes were dismissed for 64 and a total of 126.

The Section J match between ISS Ladies and St Teresas was abandoned for bad light.

The half-time score was 124-203, but when called off at 8.45, the home side had eight batters remaining and the visitors had still to bat again.

Credit must be given to Bolton Lads & Girls Club for a remarkable performance in Section P against Pink Ladies. With only seven batters due to confusion over the date of the game, they lost the first innings by 45, but won the second innings by six.

Results and fixtures in Wednesday's The Bolton News