DARWEN marched into the final of the Nuffield Cup thanks to a convincing 69 run victory over Lancaster at Lune Road on Sunday.

Gareth Cordingley and Keith Semple took the attack apart in a devastating 143 run partnership. Both batsmen returned to their best form as Gareth plundered 85 runs from just 111 balls including six fours and a six before he fell to Burstow. Semple soon followed for 66 from just 82 balls to a caught and bowled from Glover with the total on 163.

The Darwen innings finished on 219 from the allotted 45 overs with the loss of just six wickets.

The Lancaster reply never really got going thanks to a very disciplined bowling and fielding display from the exuberant Darwen team. Professional Semple led the way with only six runs coming from his opening six overs. Captain Jeff Hacking took the early prised wickets of Heywood and Philips before the Cordingley brothers wrapped the innings taking eight wickets for just 56 runs between them.

Gareth took the heart out of the Lancaster batting capturing the third, fourth and fifth wickets in a brilliant spell of 3-18 from seven overs. He later went on to make it 5-31 as brother Neil stepped in to take 3-25 including the final wicket to fall to see Darwen comfortably through to the final against Leyland.

On Saturday Darwen continued their recent good form taking nine points from a winning draw against Leyland.

Darwen batting first amassed a stunning 233 for the loss of just six wickets as they put the Leyland attack to the sword. Chris Lowe hit a fine 71 including 10 fours and Neil Cordingley an equally good 75 not out, with eight fours and a six, to ensure Darwen secured the three batting points and took the score beyond Leyland's reach.

Leyland then lost two very quick wickets to Hacking to leave them on 2-2 before Farrington and Wanasewghe added some respectability. Wickets continued to fall as Leyland did their best to kill off the game. Semple eventually finished with 3-43 and Hacking took another five wicket haul, claiming two in the last over as the game finished with the inevitable draw.

Darwen Second returned to winning ways on Saturday thanks to an eight wicket win over Leyland. Mark Hadfield top scored with 46 not out. DARWEN 233-6

LEYLAND 141-8

Darwen 9pts Leyland 2pts

DARWEN

G Cordinlgye c Farrington b Wanasewghe ... 0

C Lowe b Pallett ... 71

K Semple c Williams b Wanasewghe ... 30

N Cordingley not out ...75

J Cordingley c Gardner b Pallett ... 25

J Hacking b Wanasewghe ... 12

M Bennett c Williams b Pallett ... 4

Extras ... 16

Total (6 wkts) ... 233

Bowling: P Wanasewghe 26-5-84-3; S Pallett 18-3-62-3; P Haydock 7-0-31-0; N Rimmer 9-1-46-0

LEYLAND

M Bavla b Hacking ... 1

N Rimmer c Semple b Hacking ... 0

I Farrington b Hacking ... 30

P Wanasewghe c Horsfield b Semple ... 50

M Pallett c Parkinson b Hacking ... 29

G Gardner b Semple ... 7

H Namajee b Semple ... 0

C Williams not out ... 6

S Pallett c G Cordingley b Hacking ... 0

P Haydock not out ... 2

Extras ... 16

Total (8 wkts) ... 141

Bowling: K Semple 18-5-43-3; J Hacking 15-6-31-5; J Nicol 7-2-10-0; J Cordingley 4-0-24-0; C Lowe 4-0-10-0; N Cordingley 4-2-10-0 LANCASTER 150

DARWEN 219-6

DARWEN

G Cordingley c Phillips b Burstow ... 85

C Lowe c Burstow b Barnes ... 1

K Semple c and b Glover ... 66

N Cordingley c and b Burstow ... 8

J Cordingley b Glover ... 4

J Hacking not out ... 18

M Bennett c Hiron b Burstow ... 10

J Nicol not out ... 4

Extras ... 23

Total (6 wkts) ... 219

Bowling: I Dawson 5-0-21-0; G Barnes 9-2-28-1; G Breese 9-1-24-0; B Simm 3-0-24-0; P Dennison 2-0-20-0; C Glover 9-0-48-2; I Burstow 8-0-38-3

LANCASTER

D Heywood c Bennett b Hacking ... 8

L Phillips c Bennett b Hacking ...8

G Breese lbw G Cordingley ... 29

P Dennison c Horsfield b G Cordingley ... 19

I Burstow c Lowe b G Cordingley ... 10

B Derham c and b N Cordingley ... 5

G Hiron b G Cordingley ... 5

D Simm c Bennett b G Cordingley ... 16

I Dawson c Davies b N Cordingley ... 15

C Glover not out ... 3

G Barnes b N Cordingley ... 7

Extras ... 25

Total (all out) ... 150

Bowling: K Semple 5-1-6-0; J Hacking 6-1-19-2; J Nicol 7-0-43-0; G Cordingley 9-1-31-5; N Coridingley 4.4-0-25-3; C Lowe 1-0-10-0 Chorley dig deep to take points