BRILLIANT Jaffar Nazir bowled buoyant Barnoldswick to the top of the Ribblesdale League on a pivotal day of much reduced action as they capitalised while Baxenden and Read stuttered.

The only games to beat the horrendous weather involved the top three.

While Barlick soared to a stunning success at Cherry Tree, Baxenden were stunned by Padiham and Read scrambled to a dramatic tie with Earby.

And now Barnoldswick are in pole position – and with the potent force of pace ace and hat-trick hero Nazir they will take some shifting.

Chances of play looked slim as the rain poured – but once it stopped Preston Old Road was in good condition and play started at 3.05pm with Cherry Tree skipper Andreas Sudnik opting to bat after winning the toss in a 33-over clash.

But his side struggled for runs with Nazir and Barlick skipper Richard Nicholls piling on the pressure and their sharp fielders making runs harder to come by.

It did take Nazir time to get into his rhythm and he was cutting a fine line with his follow through – but once he got over those early problems he was deadly.

Home pro Paul Turner, so often the main man for Cherry Tree, was trapped leg before with a rapid inswinging yorker as Nazir found his range on his way to a quite stunning return of 7-35 from 16 overs – but his headline act came when he ripped out the lower order.

His hat-trick was class with three completely different balls accounting for Nigel Robbins, Dan Lord and Jon Baldwin – and Cherry Tree were 96 all out.

The were indebted to Scott Friend’s excellent 51 not out but the score never looked enough.

Hope was raised when Matthew Nutter was caught at slip cheaply as he unsuccessfully tried to drive a wide Dan Lord half volley that swung late but Abdul and Umar Saddique made certain there would be no panic as Barlick hit the top. Abdul batted sensibly while Umar teed off in some style.

He smashed his way to 70 not out from just 59 balls as Barlick coasted home by nine wickets - and smashed four huge sixes including one that cleared the scorebox and another that was flat-batted straight over the pavilion into the road.

While Barnoldswick were making it 11 wins from 13 games, previous leaders Baxenden lost by 22 runs at home to Padiham, while Read and Earby played out a thrilling tie at Whalley Road.

In a game reduced to 21 overs, Earby posted 180-4 thanks largely to Craig Walton (70 not out) and Ali Azmat (87).

Read did well to match the run rate thanks to Stuart Hornby’s innings of 90.

But they still needed 11 off the last over with five wickets down. Read then lost Andrew Rushton and arrived at the last ball requiring two for victory.

They managed only one before Warren Eastham was run out to ensure the tie.

All other matches were abandoned.

Baxenden v Padiham

Padiham
K Hitchon run out 30
Holt ct Rishton b Naeem 26
N Mehmood ct Cronshaw b Naeem 64
J Bushell run out 8
C Clarke run out 24
M Howell lbw Naeem 12
S Meehan b Naeem 2
L Anderson ct Caunce b Naeem 8
P Leach run out 1
K Robinson not out 2
S Davis b Naeem 1
Extras 4
Total (all out) 181.

Naeem 16.5 1 85 6, L McIntosh 8 1 45 0, S Molloy 4 0 27 0, L Riley 4 0 23 0.

Baxenden
A Caunce ct Clarke b Howells 3
Naeem ct Robinson b Mehmood 41
D Cronshaw ct Davis b Howells 11
M Rishton b Holt 16
L McIntosh b Holt 0
D Mills ct Bushell b Mehmood 29
C Waddington ct and b Holt 18
S Payne ct and b Holt 13
S Molloy b Holt 2
L Riley lbw Holt 15
M Nixon not out 6
Extras 6
Total (all out) 159.

M Howells 9 1 50 2, N Mehmood 14 1 64 2, Holt 9.1 1 43 6.

Padiham won by 22 runs.

Cherry Tree v Barnoldswick

Cherry Tree
M Hadfield ct Garner b Nazir 7
Turner LBW Nazir 16
S Friend Not Out 51
J Bolton ct U Saddique b Nichols 0
M Friend b Nichols 1
S Elwood LBW Nazir 4
N Robbins ct Garner b Nazir 11
D Lord LBW Nazir 0
J Baldwin ct U Saddique b Nazir 0
G Jones b Nazir 2
A Sudnik run out 2
Extras 2
Total (all out) 96.

Nazir 16 3 35 7, R Nichols 15.4 1 60 2.

Barnoldswick
M Nutter ct M Friend b Lord 0
A Saddique Not Out 26
U Saddique Not Out 70
Extras 3
Total (1 wickets) 99.

J Bolton 6 3 21 0, D Lord 3 1 23 1, J Baldwin 3 0 12 0, A Sudnik 5 0 23 0, M Hadfield 3 0 13 0, G Jones 1.1 0 6 0.

Barnoldswick won by 9 wickets.

Read v Earby
Earby
Craig Walton Not Out 70
Chris Walton b Harvey 12
Azmat ct Marshall b Eastham 87
M Haines b Eastham 0
A Yates ct O’Connor b Eastham 0
Extras 11
Total (4 wickets) 180.

Hornby 6 0 55 0, W Driver 2 0 19 0, J Harvey 8 0 55 1, W Eastham 5 0 44 3.

Read
M Jamal ct Haines b Kegg 2
Hornby b Azmat 90
W Driver ct Craig Walton b Windle 44
J Harvey ct Martin b Windle 0
B Law b Azmat 2
A Rushton ct Craig Walton b Windle 18
K O’Connor Not Out 12
W Eastham run out 0
Extras 12
Total (7 wickets) 180.

I Clarkson 3 0 28 0, M Kegg 3 0 20 1, J Alcock 2 0 20 0, Azmat 7 0 51 2, Craig Walton 1 0 14 0, M Windle 5 0 37 3.

Tied.