Little Lever reach semi finals but rain halts other ties
Captain Josh Gent and co were the only side to make it through, with the other three ties either not starting or starting and not finishing because of rain.
Advertisement
That means the reserve day of Sunday, July 6 will come into play for Earby versus Blackrod, Ribblesdale Wanderers versus defending champions Read and Brinscall against Padiham.
The latter was the only last-eight tie not to start. The other two matches will restart from where they were halted.
For Little Lever, however, they can put their feet up on the first Sunday in July and wait for the semi-final draw to take place.
They bowled Tonge out for 96 inside 34 overs, the hosts indebted to a superb 4-14 from eight overs for Pakistani professional Muhammad Junaid, who bowls left-arm spin.
Andy Flear and Cameron Murray also struck twice apiece to rout a Tonge side with only two batters making it beyond 10. South African overseas amateur Justin Gilliland opened with 32 and Sri Lankan pro Hashan Dumindu made 22.
Advertisement
In fact, Tonge lost their last nine wickets for the addition of only 32 runs from 64-1.
Australian OA Ryleigh Cameron then set the chase off nicely with an opening 39 off 25 balls, including two sixes. But he was one of six wickets to fall for 46, from 45-1, to give Tonge a slither of a chance at 91-7.
However, Flear, from number eight in the order, ensured Little Lever got over the line in only the 16th over of the chase, hitting a six and the winning boundary in 13 not out off 10 balls.
Championship side Earby will resume their quarter-final on 64-2 from 16 overs chasing 225 at home to reigning Premiership champions Blackrod, who totalled 224-5 from their 40 overs.
Advertisement
Thushendra De Zoysa top-scored for Blackrod with a measured 69, while Luke Hipgrave struck twice for Earby.
That Sri Lankan pro Dunith Jayathunga is unbeaten on 21 in the early stages of the Earby chase will give them confidence that a shock is on the cards.
The other game which started, between Ribblesdale Wanderers and defending champions Read, is a clash between the current league leaders in both the Championship and Premiership divisions respectively.
Visitors Read have the definite advantage having posted 261-7 from 40 overs before taking two early wickets. Wanderers will resume in just under a fortnight on 47-2 after 10 overs.
Advertisement
Read's commanding total was achieved thanks to opener and captain Will Wrathall, who made 87 off 107 balls with three sixes and Sri Lankan pro Sehan Weerasinghe, who top-scored a brutal 94 off 61 with four sixes included.
They shared a third-wicket 135 from 46-2.
Wanderers will, like Earby, take heart from the fact their pro is unbeaten at the crease - Sri Lankan Heshan Dhanushka having 11 to his name.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
UFC 321 Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane Opening Betting Odds
Tom Aspinall becomes heavyweight champion after beating Curtis Blaydes during the Heavyweight bout ... More at the Co-op Live Arena, Manchester. Picture date: Sunday July 28, 2024. (Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images) UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall gets his first official title defense on October 25 when he faces former interim champ Ciryl Gane in the main event of the UFC 321 pay-per-view fight card from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. We look at the opening betting odds for Aspinall vs. Gane UFC 321 Fight Card Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane Opening Betting Odds And Line Movement Not long after UFC CEO Dana White announced the UFC 321 main event, BetOnline came out with betting lines for the fight. Aspinall opened as the -350 betting favorite over Gane, who opened as the +285 betting underdog. Less than 24 hours since White announced the matchup, Aspinall has moved to -400, while Gane is now +300. UFC 321 Fight Card Main Event: Tom Aspinall Vs. Ciryl Gane MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 27: Tom Aspinall of England reacts after his knockout victory against ... More Curtis Blaydes in the interim UFC heavyweight championship bout during the UFC 304 event at Co-op Live on July 27, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Tom Aspinall (15-3) had a 7-2 professional MMA record when the UFC inked him to a deal in 2020. Aspinall made his promotional debut in July 2020 with a 45-second knockout win over Jake Collier. The win earned the then 27-year-old his first 'Performance of the Night' bonus. A knockout win over Alan Baudot followed in October of that year. Aspinall made it three stoppages in a row in February 2021 when he tapped Andrei Arlovski in the second round of their matchup, a card that was headlined by Curtis Blaydes losing to Derrick Lewis by second-round KO. Aspinall's win over Arlovski broke him into the rankings at No. 13. First-round stoppage wins over Serghei Spivac (TKO) and Alexander Volkov (submission) followed the Arlovski triumph. The Blaydes matchup was next on Aspinall's schedule. The injury he suffered in that contest kept him out of action until July 2023 when he stepped into the Octagon to face Marcin Tybura. Aspinall showed no hesitation or ill effects from his knee injury, as he dispatched Tybura in 73 seconds, winning the fight by TKO. Then, with UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones injured and out of his scheduled UFC 295 matchup against Stipe Miocic, the UFC tapped Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich to face off for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295. Aspinall won the bout, and the title, with a 69-second knockout. Aspinall defended the interim crown once, defeating Curtis Blaydes via knockout at the 1:00 mark of Round 1 of their UFC 304 matchup. Now 32, Aspinall has seven first-round stoppage wins and one second-round stoppage victory under the UFC banner. He has never gone past 1:09 of the second round in UFC action. Aspinall has earned seven 'Performance of the Night' bonuses during his UFC run. The only win he has where he failed to pick up a post-fight bonus was his win over Baudot in 2020. LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 07: Ciryl Gane of France looks on before a heavyweight bout against ... More Alexander Volkov of Russia during the UFC 310 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Ciryl Gane (13-2) is the No. 1 fighter in the official UFC heavyweight rankings. The 35-year-old French competitor has only lost in UFC title fights, falling to Francis Ngannou by decision in 2022 for the undisputed title, and losing to Jon Jones via submission in 2023 for the vacant belt. Gane did capture the interim heavyweight belt in 2021 with a knockout of Derrick Lewis. Gane debuted with the UFC in 2019 following a Muay Thai career. He was 3-0 in MMA when he first fought inside the Octagon. Gane went 7-0 to begin his UFC career. His first loss came in a title unification bout against Ngannou. Gane enters UFC 321 on a two-fight winning streak. He defeated Serghei Spivac by TKO in September 2023. In his most recent trip to the Octagon, Gane bested Alexander Volkov via decision at UFC 310. Tom Aspinall Named UFC Heavyweight Champ LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 08: UFC CEO Dana White holds a press conference after the UFC 313 event at ... More T-Mobile Arena on March 08, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) In June, then-UFC heavyweight champ Jon Jones retired. The UFC named Aspinall the undisputed champion at that time. "Jon Jones called us last night and retired. Jon Jones is officially retired. Tom Aspinall is the heavyweight champion of the UFC," White said during the post-fight press conference following the UFC Baku fight card. "I obviously feel bad for Tom that he lost all that time and money, but we'll make it up to him," White added. "Tom Aspinall is a good guy. He's been incredible through this whole process that we've gone through. He's been willing to do anything – fight him anywhere at any time and do this. Now he's like, 'I'll fight anybody. Tell me who and I'll fight him.' Aspinall has been great. He's going to be a great heavyweight champion for us and I'm excited to work with him." "International Fight Week starts Monday in Las Vegas," White continued. 'Tom will be in Vegas all week with us, so we'll get together with him and figure out what's next.' Tom Aspinall Was The Longest Serving UFC Interim Champion LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - APRIL 13: UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall attends the UFC 300 ... More event at T-Mobile Arena on April 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Aspinall won the interim UFC heavyweight crown in November 2023 with a knockout victory over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. Aspinall took that fight on short notice when the original main event for that card, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic for Jones's heavyweight title was scrapped following an injury to Jones. Despite Aspinall winning the interim crown, UFC CEO Dana White remained steadfast in saying that Jones vs. Miocic was the fight to make. That fight did not take place until November 2024. Jones held on to his belt that night, beating Miocic by TKO in the third round. By that time, Aspinall had already defended his interim crown, scoring a first-round knockout win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024. Aspinall, who has not fought since he defeated Blaydes, had been waiting for the title unification bout with Jones since Jones's win over Miocic in November. In late April, Aspinall became the longest-serving UFC interim champion, topping the 535-day reign of Renan Barao, who defended his interim title twice before being named undisputed champion. UFC 321 Official Fights Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane: For Aspinall's UFC heavyweight title Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida: Heavyweight Aleksander Rakic vs. Azamat Murzakanov: Light Heavyweight Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Chris Barnett: Heavyweight Ikram Aliskerov vs. Junyong Park: Middleweight Azat Maksum vs. Mitch Raposo We will have more on UFC 321, including opening betting odds for the co-main event when that fight is made official.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Australian pitches will challenge England
Australian pitches will provide a different challenge for England's batters in this winter's Ashes, says Steve Smith. The first Ashes Test begins in Perth on 21 November, a highly-anticipated series after the thrilling draw in 2023, with England looking to regain the urn for the first time since 2015. Former captain Smith, who is representing Welsh Fire in this year's Hundred, averages 56.01 in Tests against England but is expecting a tougher challenge for batters this time around. "Their batters are going to be challenged a little bit differently to the wickets they have had over in England for a while, which have looked pretty flat and good for batting," Smith told BBC Sport. "The wickets in Australia in the last three or four years have been very tricky for top order batters. It is going to be a good challenge for them. "But it's going to be a wonderful series. I have been watching the India and England series and there has been some great cricket played there, so I think the Ashes this year is going to be an absolute belter." Smith, 36, also said the respective pace attacks were the strength for both teams. Australia's top order struggled in the recent series against West Indies on bowler-friendly surfaces where the highest team total was 286 across three Tests. And despite plenty of recent chat around Mitchell Starc, 35, Josh Hazlewood, 34, and Scott Boland, 36, coming to the end of their Test careers, the three combined to skittle West Indies for just 27 earlier this month - a performance so dominant that their skipper and fellow quick Pat Cummins did not bowl an over in the innings. However, Smith has also noted a change of approach from England in comparison to the 2023 series which was only a year into Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum's time in charge. "They have started to play a little bit differently in the last couple of weeks in terms of playing the situation, as opposed to going out and trying to be the entertainers that they said they wanted to be," Smith added. "They are actually trying to win the games now which is perhaps different to what was said in their comments previously." The Hundred to help Olympic ambitions Smith was originally signed by Welsh Fire for the first edition of The Hundred in 2020, but the tournament was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But he says playing in the competition is on his "bucket list" as he focuses on playing more franchise cricket around the world in order to regain his place in Australia's T20 side and to play in the Olympics. The Los Angeles Games in 2028 will see cricket featured for the first time since 1900. "I decided to stop playing one-day cricket so I can play more franchises, with the aim to make the Olympic team," Smith said. "So to play more shorter-form tournaments around the world is only going to be beneficial. "It has been a long run for me and I have been doing this a long time. I am still enjoying it and particularly the shorter formats, and want to keep putting my name out there." The Hundred starts on 5 August with a double header between London Spirit and Oval Invincibles, while Welsh Fire take on Northern Superchargers in their first game two days later. Get cricket news sent straight to your phone
Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Washington Post
Arsenal completes signing of Spain U21 defender Cristhian Mosquera
LONDON — Cristhian Mosquera became Arsenal's fifth signing of the off season on Thursday after completing a move from Valencia. The Spain Under 21 defender cost a reported 13 million pounds ($17.5 million) and signed a five-year deal with the option of a further 12 months. 'We identified Cristhian as one of the strongest young defenders in European football, and he is an important signing for our future,' Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta said.
