Winning form ends at Crompton

BACUP travelled to Crompton hoping to extend their four match unbeaten run.

- NEIL WILKINSON & RICHARD PARTINGTON

After morning rain had delayed the start, Crompton won the toss and elected to bat first in a reduced 42 over match.

Crompton opener, Saif Bhojani, was soon back in the pavilion, expertly caught behind by Matt Collinge to give Ben Lord his 36th victim of the season.

Professional Mo Jamal joined Will Jackson at the crease and the pair added 66 for the second wicket, before Jackson was also caught behind off the bowling of Chirag Khurana for 24.

The same combination captured the key wicket of Denis Louis, with Collinge picking up a third victim in an excellent display behind the stumps, as Crompton stood on 87 for 3. A couple of dropped catches then cost Bacup dearly as Jamal, with the help of Asif Fazal, plundered 85 runs in a crucial fourth wicket stand of 85.

Jamal profited from his good fortune to make a hard hitting century, before he was bowled by Khurana, to give the Bacup professional his third wicket with the score on 172 for 4.

Fazal continued to take the attack to Bacup, making 52, before being bowled by Lawrence Adlum, who had been brought on to bowl the remaining two overs from one end.

Adlum then further enhanced his reputation as an off spinner by, remarkably, completing a hat trick, dismissing Arron Birtwistle and Simon Wright with his next two deliveries to finish with 3 for 19 from his two overs.

Adlum has the distinction of being one of only 13 players to take a hat trick in the club's 133 years in the Lancashire League. Khurana took 3 for 43 from his 13 overs to help keep the score to a chaseable 211.

However, the usually dependable Lord and Jack Bradford didn’t enjoy one of their better days with the ball.

Bacup’s reply didn’t start in good fashion when, with the score on only 1, Adlum was bowled by Azfal for a duck.