Ribblesdale League: Mota stars in Whalley win (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Ribblesdale League: Mota stars in Whalley win

8:21am Monday 16th July 2012 in Whalley Cricket Club By Matt Donlan, Sports reporter

WILKIN Mota rose to the occasion as Whalley ended their horrible Houldsworth Solicitors Ribblesdale League run and upset high-flying Baxenden at the same time in a Back Lane thriller on Saturday.

The former Indian Premier League man claimed seven wickets to bowl Richard Palmer’s men to the brink of victory before Matthew Howarth nicked out the last two men as Bash fell just one run short.

Mota had top scored with 41 and Mark Fallon made 38 as Whalley posted 165-9 despite the best efforts of their former professional Kamran Younas, who claimed five wickets for Bash.

But Younas failed with the bat as Baxenden’s reply got off to a stuttering start before David Mills (28) and Matthew Schofield (39) gave their side the advantage. Liam Riley (18), Ben Swindells (18) and Danny Holland (13) seemed to be taking Andy Caunce’s men over the line before a dramatic final over saw Whalley emerge victorious.

Barnoldswick stayed 17 points clear as they beat Salesbury at Ribchester Road - but the success was not quite as straightforward as it seemed as the Red Caps recovered from 31-6 before being bowled out for 108 with Imran Khalid claiming five wickets.

Umar Saddique then his 53 not out as Barlick got home by eight wickets.

In a one-sided game at Clitheroe, Earby never got out of the blocks.

Only Ali Azmat (24), Martyn Windle (12) and Aron Pollard (10) made double figures in 66 all out off 30 overs, professional Kashif Siddique was the star, claiming 4-7.

In reply Clitheroe attacked from ball one and knocked the runs off in 9.5 overs for the loss of Saddique for a swift 34 and Stuart Lemon for 10, the highlight for Earby being a sharp catch at slip by Rory Robinson to remove the paid man.

Tom Lord finished the match with two gigantic sixes hit with his Mongoose bat.

Jon Harvey hit 52 as Read stayed in second spot thanks to their 48-run win at Edenfield. Harvey helped his men up to 180-7 and despite Jim Flitcroft’s 70 Edenfield were 132 all out.

Amar Ullah made 47 - and the Great Harwood batsman's contribution was key in a tense game with Oswaldtwistle Immanuel.

Ullah helped Harwood up to 104 all out as Gerard Metcalfe rolled back the years to claim 6-16 from 10.4 overs.

But Ben Dowling then claimed 5-11 and Harwood pro Syed Shahabuddin picked up 4-12 as Immanuel were 63 all out with only pro Chris Cook-Martin (22) making double figures.

Mansoor Amjad made a fine century as Settle beat Padiham at Marshfield. The professional’s ton helped John Seedle’s men up to 188-8 before Padiham were 129 all out, while Andreas Sudnik was the hero for Cherry Tree in their win at Ribblesdale Wanderers as they moved to the fringes of the top five.

Cherry were missing key batsman Paul Turner but any concerns about their batting being light were dispelled once Sudnik got to work with the ball.

The Cherry stalwart was in sensational form as he claimed 7-30 as Wanderers were 55 all out – and the Blackburn side then dashed home in quick time.