On a hard but slightly green track Padiham won the toss and elected to bat.  They got off to a decent start, seeing off Cameron and Liam without the loss of any wickets.  Padiham made steady progress trough the early part of the innings without getting away from the Hadfield Bowling attack.

After the loss of Clarke for 29 and Van Tonder for 5 the Padiham pro Naseer came to the wicket and quickly set about the bowling attack launching some lusty blows, before our Pro remover! Disco bowled him for 48 off 27 balls and once again the run rate returned to a steadier 5/6 an over.  The other opener Edgar fell just short of 100 on 98 caught J Gabriel bowled F Gabriel. The innings ended on 215 for 5.  A total that the home crowd felt was below par  for the track and fast outfield.

Doyle and Whiteman opened up for Hadfield.  Doyle in his usual style flew of the mark and started to score quickly.  Whiteman looked solid without actually scoring!  After being joined by JT, Doyle continued in the same aggressive style until misjudging and straight one and being given LBW for 48.  Cam settled straight in with some wristy shots through the covers.   JT was stumped for 30 and Cam was joined by Shan the clubs new Overseas, who immediately started to play with intent, attempting 2 square cuts off his first two balls.  The pair set about the task of reducing the 110 still remaining to chase.  Shan closed the run gap on his partner and took over the attacking role with 50 left to get.  The pair stayed together to take us over the winning post for just 3 wickets down.  What a great start to 2025 with a 7 wicket win in our first taste of the ECB cup.  

Man of the match had to be Shan with a miserly 28 off his 8 overs and an attacking 63no off 41 deliveries on debut.  We go again vs Wallesey away on the 27th April.