Ribblesdale League

CHAMPIONS Padiham are among the early pacesetters of the Jennings Ribblesdale League.

Five games beat the weather and Padiham's comfortable victory over Oswaldtwistle Immanuel made it two out of two for professional Mark Harvey and his men.

Great Harwood professional Shantanu Sugwekar hit 53 out of a total of 90-7 in their rain affected match against Settle. Fellow Indian Surendra Bhave was also in good early form for the Dalesmen with an unbeaten 54 in a total of 91-6. Harwood fell two runs short of their victory target but took the five points on a faster run-rate.

Ribblesdale Wanderers are the third side with two wins out of two. Sub pro Gary Keedy helped restrict Edenfield to 99-6 and Ribblesdale reached their target for the loss of seven wickets.

Clitheroe's Mick Dewhurst took advantage of a helpful track at Read to claim 5-57 in dismissing their hosts for a respectable 132. But Clitheroe made it home with the loss of five wickets.

The performance of the day came from former Whalley pro Jason Smith. He claimed eight Blackburn Northern wickets for 72 in the highest scoring game of the day. A fine 87 from Darryl Redhead was backed up by 62 from another former Whalley professional, Mark Fallon, in a total of 191-5. Northern put up a spirited response, lead by 74 from Neil Weaver, but the reply ended up 20 runs short with nine wickets down. The games at Earby and Baxenden were both abandoned without any play.

Jennings Ribblesdale Cricket League results - Senior League: Baxenden dnb, Barnoldswick dnb; Earby dnb, Cherry Tree dnb; Settle 91-6 (S Bhave 54), Great Harwood 90-7 (S Sugwekar 53); Edenfield 99-6, Ribblesdale W 100-7; Read 132 (M Dewhurst 5-57), Clitheroe 136-5; Padiham 176-6, Oswaldtwistle I 133-8; Whalley 191-5 (M Fallon 62, D Redhead 87), Blackburn Northern 171-9 (N Weaver 74, J Smith 8-72).

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