RONNIE Davis was the match-winner with bat and ball as Leigh CC completed a fine victory at Colwyn Bay.

Leigh won the toss and put Colwyn Bay in. By the 11th over they had been reduced to 22-4 through a fine opening spell of 1-18 from Davis and 3-4 by Iqbal Sikander.

This brought together Colwyn Bay's professional Khan and Wallace. In the next 32 overs they added 90 runs. Chris Melia bowled a tidy spell but it was Colin Smith who made the vital inroads.

He had Khan smartly caught by Andy Mullaney at slip for a useful 57 and then removed Rowley and Gibbons for ducks.

The crucial wicket allowed Sikander to return to the attack where he removed numbers nine and tens. Wallace tried to protect his number 11 but finally succumbed to a Davis delivery to be last man out for a valiant 61.

Colwyn Bay's innings closed in the 56th over with Khan and Wallace having added 118 out of a total of 146. Sikander claimed another five wicket haul with Davis picking up 2-34 and Smith 3-50.

In reply, it all seemed to be going well as 38 were added for the first wicket before Andy Batterley was caught behind for 29. Nigel Hallows soon followed and then Tim McKiernan was lbw first ball to leave Leigh on 40-3.

Vicious bouncer

Andy Mullaney added six before being struck on the head from a vicious bouncer from Khan and he was taken off to hospital with Leigh, in effect, now 46-4. Dave Dove was watching all this from the other end, still to get off the mark since Batterley's injury.

Khan was still in full flow but it did not deter young Gareth Cross who proceeded to take 21 of an over. When Cross had reached 28 from 20 balls he was adjudged lbw with the Leigh score on 82.

Davis joined Dove, who was still at the other end watching things unfold and yet to score. Davis took the attack to the Colwyn Bay bowlers, hitting Khan for a couple of boundaries and who, after a series of no balls and bouncers, was removed from the attack.

Davis kept his concentration and continued to despatch the ball to all parts as Dove played the supporting role. Davis went on to hit 5 fours and 2 sixes in an unbeaten half-century, securing a six-wicket victory with a three.

On Sunday Leigh demolished St Helens to go through to the third round of the Chelmere Homes Trophy.

It wasn't all plain sailing, however, as St Helens won the toss and decided to bat first on a good pitch. At the halfway stage they had reached 78-1. A run out by Dove was the only success as Smith, Davis and Sikander failed to break through.

St Helens appeared to have a platform on which to build, however the introduction of Dave Potter and, in particular,

Chris Melia turned the tables Leigh's way.

Fourth ball duck

Melia dismissed St Helens' overseas player Kenny for a single and then removed Gareth Davies, stumped by Cross fourth ball for a duck and then had Friar well caught by Davis for 24.

With Potter removing opener Horabin at the other end, St Helens were struggling at 92-5. This signalled the return of Davis and Sikander to pile on the pressure.

It was Davis who was to mop up the tail, however, transforming his figures from 0-26 to 4-29 as St Helens were dismissed for 133.

Smith and Sikander bowled well but without much luck but it was Davis, Melia (3-42) and Potter (1-26) who proved successful on the wickets front.

The total was not expected to be too challenging as so it proved as McKiernan and Batterley set about the bowling. After 10 overs Leigh had 50 on the board and the game was effectively over. Batterley moved to his half-century off just 45 balls as the opening pair took Leigh to the brink of victory. Then, with just two required, McKiernan skied a full toss and was out for 49.

Batterley hit the winning runs to raise his score to 76 with included 12 fours and 3 sixes.

Leigh have a double-header against Sefton this weekend. Tomorrow they play a league game at Beech Walk, wickets pitched at 1pm and on Sunday they make the return trip for the Regional Final of the National Knockout Competition.