SHANAN Stewart guided Ramsbottom to the Worsley Cup late last night as he batted hosts Church out of contention with a high-class knock to steer his side to glory.

The Kiwi scored a cool as you like half-century – and his knock was the difference between two good sides as earlier Church pro Saeed Anwar contributed just five with the bat.

And on the biggest stage, a telling knock from the Pakistani could well have proved the difference in tough conditions.

It was a miracle the game went ahead given the weather – and that affected the crowd. But as the sun shone later in the afternoon, Stewart was the Rammy hero.

The rain relented at 1pm and after a huge mopping-up operation play started at 2.15pm and Ramsbottom skipper Jonathan Fielding took the decision to put Church in.

And it soon became evident that batting was difficult on a tough surface and home skipper Craig Fergusson was stoic in his approach, allowing Levi Wolfenden to play his shots.

The youngster was in fine touch as he attacked anything short or full and was soon taking the game to Ramsbottom.

It did come as a surprise when Fergusson departed, well caught at gully by Simon Read, for 12.

But 49-1 became 55-2 when pro Anwar was caught and bowled by Stewart for just five as he lobbed back to the New Zealander. It was to prove a pivotal moment in the showpiece.

The normally prolific Nasser Hussain made just eight and Adam Greenwood went for two as the wickets started to fall but Wolfenden was like a rock.

He was dropped by David Bell at mid-wicket on 43 – and he made up for that chance to pass his 50 and earn a huge ovation from the now sizeable crowd.

In fact Wolfenden was a glorious form and, despite taking the odd painful whack from rising balls, he seemed certain to bat through until he was brilliantly caught on the edge by Rob Read for 74.

He faced 132 balls and hit nine fours in his excellent knock, a knock that earned him the Lancashire Telegraph man of the match award. Muhammed Jamil made a big 31 and Manazar Mehmood made 17 and Church were pushing towards their decent total of 168-9 from their 50 overs.

Ramsbottom started brightly in the face of some distinctly average bowling but they too lost their first wicket on 49 as Jamie Pilling was well caught at slip by Fergusson off Jamil’s first over for 28.

And Webb was next to go as he was undone by a turning Anwar delivery that spat off the drying track and was caught by Sam Tucker.

Stewart and David Bell worked to repair the damage until the latter was cleaned up by Jamil with the score on 71 and seven runs later it was four down as Fielding was run out.

That brought Alex Bell to the crease and he and Stewart took the game away from Church, whose bowlers too often struggled to find their range and a tally of 30 extras did not help their cause.

The Kiwi punished anything short or wide and his measured half-century was the difference as the cup kings claimed the crown for the fifth time in 10 years.

Church
L Wolfenden c R Read b Hakin 74
C Fergusson c S Read b Haslam 12
Anwar c and b Stewart 5
N Hussain c Parton b Stewart 8
A Greenwood c Parton b Fielding 2
P Gilrane b Hakin 5
M Jamil st Parton b S Read 31
M Mehmood c Pilling b S Read 17
M Gilrane c Stewart b Haslam 3
A Bentley not out 5
Extras 6
Total (for nine wickets) 168. M Haslam 10 0 43 2, S Read 10 1 32 2, A Hakin 10 0 39 2, Stewart 10 2 25 2, J Fielding 10 1 26 1. Ramsbottom
K Webb c Tucker b Anwar 13
Pilling c Anwar b Jamil 28
Stewart not out 69
D Bell b Jamil 4
J Fielding run out 1
A Bell not out 22
Extras 30
Total (for four wickets) 172. M Jamil 10 1 34 2, A Bentley 8.2 1 46 0, L Wolfenden 5 0 31 0, Anwar 10 2 17 1, P Gilrane 4 0 19 0, M Gilrane 2 0 15 0. Ramsbottom won by six wickets. Man of the match: Levi Wolfenden. Gate: £2,474.