Westhoughton pro Abdur Khan pulled off one of the greatest bowling spells of the season to take eight wickets for just 36 runs and single-handedly destroy Tonge's run chase.

The visitors set a target of 160-9 thanks largely to Adam Coates' 49 not out and Ian Pilkington's 43. Adil Nisar was the pick of the Tonge bowlers with 6-30.

Tonge then seemed bound for victory as they cruised to 78-2 and Khan only managing figures of 2-27.

But Westhoughton's prize bowler suddenly clicked into top gear to oust a further six Tonge batsmen, while conceding only nine further runs, as the home side collapsed in dramatic style to 90 all out.

Egerton suffered a similar batting crash but managed to cling on to a draw at Greenmount. Robin Morris proved the home side's inspiration, with his 63 steering them to 121 all out before taking 6-30 to all but kill off the opposition, whose top scorer was Karl Bates with a mere 18.

But the last wicket partnership of David Lawton and Chris Tye stuck to their task and ground out a draw, Egerton finishing on 57-9.

Heaton fell just nine runs short of victory at home to Astley Bridge in a match where Bridge youngster William Halton showed great promise. The home side's professional, Narendra Hirwani took 4-35 and Jon Fearick 5-61 as Astley Bridge stumbled to 106 all out. But 17-year-old Halton took 7-22 to reduce Heaton to 98 all out and clinch the victory.

Horwich dominated their clash with Bradshaw after setting a demanding target of 188-9, John Parkinson top scoring on 40 and Dave Tattersall scraping together 4-51 for the visitors.

With Andrew Taylor taking 5-18, the Horwich bowlers then took control to skittle Bradshaw out for 93 runs and claim a 95-run victory.

Eagley did well to recover from a disastrous start to their innings but were eventually put to the sword by Walkden.

After losing their first three wickets for just three runs and then teetering at 38-5, a steadying fifth-wicket partnership of 52 between Martin Cripps and Phillip McDermott steered them to 122-9. Cripps was the lynchpin of the side, scoring 25 runs and staying at the crease for some 119 balls. But his heroics were undone as Walkden, whose best bowlers were John Smith, 4-18 and Phil Ingram, 4-22, reached the target with five wickets in hand. David Smith hitting a solid 35 and Matthew Parkinson 34 not out.

Kearsley had no problems knocking off the target set by Farnworth Social Circle as Tom Whittle, 40 not out, guided them to a six-wicket success. Whittle's father, Mel, took 6-36 and Fazal-E-Akber 4-23 as the home side struggled to 71 all out and, despite Dean Eckersley's 3-31, Kearsley ran up a winning score of 75-4.

Kids stuff for Adam

LITTLE Lever relied on schoolboy Adam Worrall to clinch victory in their clash with Farnworth.

The visitors posted a total of 88 all out as Paul Rayment, 4-38, and Sajweena De Silva, 4-47, did the damage with the ball. And Lever cruised to a nine-wicket success as 16-year-old Worrall finished on 33 not out and Adam Lawson, just two years his senior top scored with 37.