There was double success for Clifton CC’s first XI but double disaster for their seconds at the weekend as Glenn Bullock’s men gritted out two excellent wins but Ollie Dunn’s troops’ batting woes continued.

There was some great entertainment on show at Walsden on Saturday as the game swung to and fro.

The Walsden early order collapsed as Greg Jennings made inroads, but two half-centuries pulled the score round to 165-8 with Jennings collecting a remarkable 7-93 as he continued to plug away for 20 overs with the game being reduced to 40 per side by the rain.

Chris Lord, Adam Holt and Andy Griffiths then scored freely but when they all disappeared into the pavilion, the middle order disintegrated and the scoring all but dried up.

With eight wickets down and the asking rate at nine an over for the last five overs, Mo Akhtar answered the call and smashed 34 not out off 20 balls to win the game with a ball to spare.

On Sunday, Akhtar took over with the ball, capturing six Unsworth wickets for just 46 runs at Manchester Road as the visitors set a target of 161, recovering well from 116-7.

Liam Dorsey then justified his advanced batting position with a match-winning 65 and Clifton emerged victorious by three wickets.

The seconds’ game at home to Walsden was marred by the weather and a reduced total of 120 was achieved easily by the visitors for the loss of only two wickets.

Geoff Griffiths top-scored with 41 in a total of 134 in which the last seven wickets fell for 55 runs, before the weather intervened.

On Sunday the batting woes continued as the seconds could only manage 135 in response to Unsworth’s 187.

The remarkable features of the game though, were the bowling stats of the four Clifton bowlers. At one end Rob Meredith bowled 15 overs for 13 runs and Stephen Birch 10 overs for 28, but at the other end in the same number of overs, Ollie Dunn and Rob Reade conceded an astonishing 142 runs out of the 187 total. Jim Ainscough top scored with 24.

Clifton’s thirds played almost a full game at Saddleworth, but the weather’s interventions eventually proved decisive as the sides ended up with two points each. However, the moral victory went to Mark Unwin’s very young side which included a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old.

Clifton scored 134 and then reduced the hosts to 98-8 before time ran out. Gareth Lloyd was the man of the match with 5-23 and 54 with the bat.

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