BRILLIANT Chorley clambered back into fourth place in the Northern Premier League as they took five wickets for no runs to beat Lancaster in a thriller on Saturday.

And while Andy Holdsworth’s men were celebrating that remarkable Lancaster collapse, Darwen’s Birch Hall draw with Barrow was one for the record books as visiting professional Pieter Malan wrote his name into his club’s history.

The real drama of a scorching hot Saturday came at Lune Road though as Chorley edged home in a quite remarkable game.

After Jack Catterall had made 28 at the top of the order, Chorley were wobbling until Will Moulton came to the crease in determined mood.

Moulton hit six four and three sixes on his way to 66 from 90 balls and he received good support from Michael Critchley, who was stoic for his 21 in a 77-run stand for the fifth wicket.

That helped Chorley up to 177 all out off the final ball of the innings with spinner Ben Simm the key bowler with 5-77 from a 25-over stint.

As Lancaster replied skipper Michael Stevens and pro Dwayne Hees seemed to be setting up the chase after the early loss of Charlie Jackson well before Hees was second man out for 34.

But the real drama came when Stevens, who made 61, and Lee Sparks took Lancaster from 118-5 to 166-5 and just 12 runs from victory.

But that incredible collapse occurred as Sparks was caught by Holdsworth off Guarav Dhar for 33 and Stevens was sent back as he tried to sweep Billy Smith.

And 166-7 then became 166 all out as Lancaster’s last five wickets fell for no runs, with Dhar claiming 6-56 from 13 overs and Ian Critchley and Kieran McCullagh both picking up two wickets each.

Barrow pro Pieter Malan hit his fifth league century of the summer and his eighth in all games for the club as the game at Darwen ended in a tense draw.

The South African run machine made 126 not out as Barrow closed 198-8, 11 runs short of victory as they tried to chase down Darwen.

His efforts saw him set a new club batting record and has the Northern League’s all-time record of 1,381, set by Aussie Callum Ferguson, in his range.

Malan’s knock was quite simply magnificent as he hit 11 fours and five sixes – but it wasn’t enough to beat the locals, who posted 280-9 with Jordan Clarke making 41 and Gareth Cordingley 38, while Kamran Anwar hit a late-order 26 to boost the score beyond 200.

There was also a day to remember for former Pakistan Test wicket-keeper Atiq uz-Zaman, who scored a century and claimed a hat-trick as he turned his arm over to great effect in St Annes win over Fleetwood.

That win kept St Annes clear of Leyand, who edged past Morecambe, at the top of the table.

Netherfield thumped Carnforth at Lodge Quarry, while Blackpool and Preston drew at Stanley Park.

Darwen v Barrow

Darwen
A Davies lbw b Malan 26
N Burke c Reynolds b Wearing 10
Zaman Khan run out 21
C Clarke c D’Leny b Malan 5
J Cordingley b Collins 19
G Cordingley c Collins b Malan 38
J Clarke c and b Wearing 41
K Anwar c Studt b Wearing 26
C Wade st D’Leny b Malan 0
S Chatburn-Jones not out 2
N Jackson not out 0
Extras 20
Total (9 wickets, 50 overs) 208.

Dawson 5 1 17 0, D Wearing 13 2 53 3, Malan 11 0 45 4, G Collins 12 0 44 1, L Livingstone 9 1 29 0.

Barrow
Malan not out 126
D Wearing c Zaman Khan b Burke 1
L Livingstone c Anwar b Burke 13
I Kermode c J Clarke b Burke 4
G Reynolds c J Clarke b Wade 10
G Dawson run out 16
C D’Leny lbw b Zaman Khan 15
R Studt run out 7
L Hogg c J Clarke b Anwar 0
Extras 6
Total (8 wickets, 50 overs) 198.

K Anwar 13 1 53 1, N Burke 9 2 29 3, Zaman Khan 17 2 65 1, C Wade 6 0 22 1, C Clarke 5 0 23 0.

Darwen winning draw.

Lancaster v Chorley

Chorley
J Catterall b Simm 28
A Holdsworth run out 10
S Naden lbw b Simm 0
W Moulton b Swarbrick 66
I Critchley lbw b Simm 3
M Critchley c and b Simm 21
Dhar c Sparks b Simm 5
A Weetman c Gudgeon b Swarbrick 2
J Bentham b Swarbrick 4
K McCullagh not out 11
B Smith run out 4
Extras 23
Total (all out, 50 overs) 177.

C Swarbrick 12 0 32 3, B Simm 25 6 77 5, M Stevens 4 0 21 0, M Metcalfe 9 1 39 0.

Lancaster
M Stevens c Smith b Dhar 61
C Swarbrick lbw b McCullagh 12
Hees b McCullagh 34
A Metcalfe c Smith b Dhar 1
D Heywood b Dhar 0
J Atkinson lbw b I Critchley 8
L Sparks c Holdsworth b Dhar 33
B Simm c Holdsworth b Dhar 0
D Gudgeon lbw b I Critchley 0
B Swarbrick c and b Dhar 0
D Chambers not out 0
Extras 17
Total (all out, 48 overs) 166.

K McCullagh 11 4 34 2, B Smith 7 0 25 0, I Critchley 15 5 38 2, W Moulton 2 0 5 0, Dhar 13 3 56 6.

Chorley won by 11 runs.

Blackpool v Preston

Blackpool 201-6 (C De Lange 119no, A Furniss 47), Preston 194-9 (M Modhi 51, C De Lange 4-41).

Blackpool (10pts) winning draw; Preston 5pts.

Carnforth v Netherfield

Netherfield 253-6 (J Huck 77no, M Brown 49), Carnforth 102 (D Morris 55no, S Nixon 5-28).

Netherfield (15pts) beat Carnforth (1pt) by 151 runs.

Morecambe v Leyland

Morecambe 134 (P Cummings 4-19), Leyland 135-7 (B Pelser 60 no, Anwar Ali 6-67).

Leyland (12pts) beat Morecambe (2pts) by 3 wickets.

St Annes v Fleetwood

Fleetwood 157 (D Bell 65, D Hettiarachchi 7-37, Atiq Uz-Zaman 3-28 incl hat-trick), St Annes 158-2 (Atiq Uz-Zaman 102no, N Bolus 42no).

St Annes (12pts) beat Fleetwood (1pt) by 9 wickets.

Don’t miss tomorrow’s Lancashire Telegraph for yesterday’s scorecards, results and tables