Padiham shock holders Read to set up Little Lever final
Padiham will get the opportunity to win a second Hamer Cup title in three seasons after shocking reigning champions Read in a nail-biting Sunday semi-final.
Padiham will face last year's finalists Little Lever in next month's final - Sunday, August 10 - at Read after the Bolton side beat Blackrod in their last-four tie.
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Read went into the semi-final, at Padiham, having only lost one game across all Antony Axford North West Cricket League competitions in 2025. They are top of the Premiership table and had already qualified for T20 Finals Day.
But they were beaten by two wickets as Padiham successfully chased down 153 to win with 3.1 overs spare.
Little Lever, meanwhile, were more commanding winners at home to Blackrod. They posted 259-4 from their 40 overs and bowled their Premiership rivals out for 171.
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Padiham, Hamer Cup champions in 2023 - the first year of the NWCL structure - triumphed over Settle that year. They are currently fifth in the Premiership.
They limited Read to 152-9 from their 40 overs, with South African overseas amateur Zander Van Tonder and Oliver Parr claiming three wickets apiece.
From 68-6, Read did well to post what they did.
Joe Marshall came in with the score at 8-1 after five overs and batted through the majority of the innings for a patient 49 off 85 balls with five fours and a six.
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Wicketkeeper Ben Dinning also contributed 21 not out off 14 balls from number 10.
In reply, Padiham made a positive start and reached 46-1 inside nine overs. However, they fell to 93-5 in the 27th over to bring the game back into the balance.
The last of those five wickets was opener Joe Edgar, for 36.
They later fell to 120-8 in the 33rd over, with Read the favourites at that stage as Zadian Muller, Sehan Weerasinghe, Chris Holt and Joe Halstead all took two wickets apiece.
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But wicketkeeper-batter Tom Turner was Padiham's hero with an unbeaten 44 off 35 balls with four sixes.
He hit two fours and two sixes as 20 came off five balls from Jack Wood in the the 37th over to seal a home victory and progression to another cup final.
Little Lever set Premiership rivals Blackrod a 260-target thanks mainly to a brilliant 110no off 113 balls, including five sixes, from Adam Carter.
He came in at number three - 43-1 - and shared 99 for the third wicket with Pakistani professional Muhammad Junaid from 68-2.
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Junaid contributed 43 off 34 balls, with 37 from opener Cameron Murray and 31 from Adil Nisar also included in a strong batting performance which Blackrod failed to match.
Their Sri Lankan pro Navod Paranavithana top-scored with 48 off 26 balls and helped them get off to a good start at 44-0.
But Junaid continued his good day, claiming 5-31 from eight overs of left-arm spin. He removed captain Joey Pryle for 38 - the only other Blackrod player to pass 20.
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Little Lever prevailed by 88 runs and will get the opportunity to avenge last year's final defeat to Read, who will play host to this year's final as defending champions.
There will be a reserve day of Sunday, August 25, should the final not be played, or finished, at the first attempt. The final will start at 1pm.
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