THERE were opening-day wins for Farnworth Social Circle, Farnworth and Astley Bridge as the Anthony Axford Indoor cricket tournament got under way on Sunday at Bolton School.

First up were Farnworth Social Circle and Westhoughton, the latter winning the toss and deciding to bat.

Some fine fielding by FSC saw three Westhoughton batters run out.

Matthew Morris top scored with 41 not out, giving Westhoughton a total of 79-4 off their 12 overs.

In reply, Social Circle reached the winning score in the final over largely thanks to Jameel Stuart’s 26no and Jake O’Bryne (23).

The second game saw Farnworth take on a very young Lostock side.

Farnworth batted first and made 120-4 with Neil Hyde top scoring with 35no and Ross Sutton hitting 27.

The best bowling performance for Lostock came from Louis Greenhalgh, who took 3-27 off his three overs.

The young Lostock players found it hard to score runs against a solid Farnworth attack with all players bowling two overs each.

They managed to get to 46-2, with Aaron Berriman top scoring with 22no.

The final match of the opening day saw Astley Bridge take on Blackrod.

Blackrod won the toss and asked Astley Bridge to bat.

With some very quick running between the wickets, Astley Bridge reached 116-2, largely through the contributions of Irfan Puda (26no), Haaris Akhtar (25no) and David Cryer (23no).

The leading wicket-taker for Blackrod was Jacob Steveson with 2-14.

Blackrod replied with 62-4, Jake Ashworth top scoring with 20.

The next round of matches this Sunday are: Kearsley v Eagley (12.30pm), Horwich RMI v Little Hulton (1.45pm) and Walkden v Tonge (3pm).