THE Bolton League will meet the Ribblesdale League in the final of the MEN inter-league competition after a dazzling display in the drizzle at Bradshaw.

Walkden's Paul Rayment hit 98 off 133 balls to steer the League towards a commanding total of 241-7 before taking three wickets as the Northern League were bowled out for 192.

The totals suggest it was an easy victory but in reality the Northern League put themselves in a good position to win the game.

A stand of 90 between Adrian Darlington and Neil Rimmer scored at six an over built a solid platform from which to win the match, and for a long period, had the rain worsened and the game called off, they would have gone through to the final on faster run rate.

Collapse

Fortunately for the Bolton League the weather held off long enough for the bowlers to engineer a collapse. Shahid Mahboob of Eagley turned the game with four wickets for 37, aided by some superb catches in the field, while Rayment made sure of the man of the match award with 3-48 forcing the visitors to slump from 115-1 to 154-7.

Earlier Rayment was in entertaining mood with the bat as he and Eagley's Mike Ward opened with a stand of 74 before Rayment built a partnership of 69 with skipper David Morris, who hit 33 off 35 balls.

When those two eventually lost their wickets, Mahboob and Mark Stewart kept up the big hitting, the Eagley man crashing 20 runs off seven balls and Stewart 16 off seven.