THE fourth round of matches in the Ribblesdale League Twenty20 competition took place on Friday night with the battle for places in the knockout stages hotting up.

Group winners and runners-up are guaranteed a home draw in the quarter finals with the two best third/fourth also progressing.

In Group One, Cherry Tree played Salesbury and in view of the recent weather, the fast outfield was always likely to favour lots of runs.

Stefan Klopper got Cherry Tree off to a fast start with a quick fire 29 but it was skipper, Jake Willacy, who led the charge, scoring 93 off 63 balls - including eight fours and seven sixes - in a total of 167-4.

Salesbury got off to a steady start but they took control when Peter Richardson and Scott Wharton joined forces at the crease.

Richardson finished unbeaten on 43 and Wharton scored 38 not out in an unbeaten third wicket partnership of 80 which saw Salesbury home by eight wickets with seven balls to spare.

But Cherry Tree were partial architects of their own downfall as they gave away a staggering 54 extras.

Runs were hard to come by in the clash between Barnoldswick and Brinscall.

Brinscall batted first and were all out for only 96.

However, Barnoldswick were unable to reach this relative low total to give Brinscall victory.

There was a tight finish in the tie between Feniscowles against Earby.

Feniscowles made 125-9 then Earby were bowled out for 124 with 10 deliveries remaining to give Feniscowles victory.

In Group Two, Baxenden played Padiham, who won the toss on a hard and bouncy wicket.

Baxenden’s cause was not helped by several dropped catches. An unbeaten fourth wicket partnership of 91 between Owen Deakin-Pickard (46 no) and Siviwe Gidana (53 no) helped Padiham finish on 153-3.

Sam Lord with 1-14 from his four overs was the pick of the bowlers.

Baxenden never looked like getting the required total and collapsed to 44-6 and ended well short of total when the overs ran out.

Andrew Needham got Ribblesdale Wanderers off to a good start against Read with a quick 34 but it was the big-hitting Primosh Perera with an unbeaten 80 off 70 balls - including 11 fours - who was the cornerstone of the innings as they closed on 178-4.

Read were not helped by giving away 49 extras, including four wides.

In reply, Read struggled against the bowling of Sam Jackson (4-15) and Ian Britcliffe (3-10) - only Tom Turner with 42 made any significant contribution in total of 96 all out.

Settle beat Whalley in the top of the group match.

Whalley batted first and thanks to Sam Sweeney’s 58 off 42 balls and run a ball 36 from Robbie Read they posted a competitive looking 133-8. Sadrian Ward was the pick of the bowlers with 3-32.

However William Davidson made 47 off only 22 deliveries before Ali Azmat completed the run chase with 33 off 28 balls to give Settle victory off only 11.4 overs with six wickets in hand.