BOWLER Jimmy Dixon and professional Raheel Majeed put in “awesome” performances as Radcliffe celebrated another successful weekend.

The Championship side eased to a four-wicket victory at Ashton on Saturday to climb to second place in the Central Lancashire League, having cruised to an eight-wicket Twenty20 win against local rivals Elton on Friday.

Pace bowler Dixon snapped up a five-wicket haul at Reyner Lane and Majeed hit an unbeaten 80 at Leigh Lane. And Radcliffe skipper Chris Berry was delighted with the pair’s contribution.

Berry said: “They were both awesome. Jimmy bowled the first eight overs against Ashton and ripped through their top order. It was an excellent display on a trying track.

“Raheel played brilliantly against Elton and his performance was one of the best I have seen from any professional. He really punished their bowling.”

Radcliffe travelled to Ashton in third place on Saturday, knowing a win would see them leapfrog their fellow title-hopefuls.

The hosts’ innings got off to a poor start with opening pair Asim Bhatti and Jamil Khalil out for ducks and deputy professional Angelo Perera following suit as Ben Johnson’s side struggled against the impressive bowling of Dixon.

The all-rounder took 5-21 from his eight overs which included two maidens. Anwar Ul-Haq posted 3-23 as the hosts were dismissed for 105. Jack Newman top-scored with 26.

Radcliffe reached their target for the loss of six wickets. Ul-Haq top-scored with 20, and captain Johnson was the pick of the Ashton bowlers with 3-37.

Berry said: “We should have contained them more than we did.

“It was a very uneven bounce and that made for a low-scoring game.

“If they had scored more I think we would have struggled on that wicket.”

Athar Rauf was Radcliffe’s best bowler in the Twenty20 contest at Elton, taking 3-12 from three overs as the hosts posted 127-6. Danny Lomax led the way for Elton with 31.

The 100-run partnership of Majeed and Usman Malik secured the win for Radcliffe.

Majeed hammered 80 not out from 38 balls and Malik struck 36 as Radcliffe got home for the loss of two wickets and with seven overs to spare.

Berry is now aiming for Radcliffe to keep the pressure on leaders Crompton when his side entertain Middleton on Saturday.

Radcliffe are one point behind the table-toppers, albeit having played a game more, but Berry is taking nothing for granted against seventh-placed Middleton.

He said: “Middleton have got a good professional and we do not want to be underestimating them.

“We have got to keep up the pressure on the top place.”

RADCLIFFE captain Chris Berry praised the “awesome” performances of bowler Jimmy Dixon and professional Raheel Majeed following another successful weekend for the Homer Street men.

The Championship side eased to a comfortable four-wicket victory at Ashton on Saturday to climb to second place in the Central Lancashire League, and cruised to an eight-wicket Twenty/20 win against local rivals Elton.

Pace bowler Dixon smashed his way to a five-wicket haul at Reyner Lane and Majeed hit an unbeaten 80 at Leigh Lane, and Berry was delighted with the pairs contribution.

“They were both superb,” he said. “Jimmy bowled the first eight overs against Ashton and absolutely ripped through their top order. It was an excellent display on a really trying track.

“Raheel played brilliantly against Elton and his performance was one of the best I’ve seen from any professional. He really punished their bowling.”

Radcliffe travelled to Ashton in third place on Saturday knowing a win would see them leapfrog their title hopefuls.

The hosts’ innings got off to a poor start with opening pair Asim Bhatti and Jamil Khalil out for ducks and deputy pro Angelo Perera following suit as Ben Johnson’s side struggled against the impressive bowling of Dixon.

The all-rounder took 5-21 from his eight overs including two maidens while Anwar Ul-Haq also posted 3-23 to dismiss the hosts for 105. Jack Newman top-scored with 26.

The Homer Street men knocked off the target for the loss of six wickets.

Al-Haq top-scored with 20 while captain Johnson was the pick of the Ashton bowlers, taking 3-37.

“We should have contained them more than we did,” admitted Berry.

“It was a very uneven bounce and that made for a low-scoring game.

“If they had scored more I think we would have struggled on that wicket.”

Athar Rauf was Radcliffe’s best bowler in the Twenty/20 contest at Elton last Friday, taking 3-12 from three overs as the hosts posted 127-6. Danny Lomax top-scored with 31.

But it was the 100-run partnership of pro Majeed and Usman Malik that secured the win for Radcliffe.

Majeed smashed his way to 80 not out from 38 balls and Malik also hit 36 as the Homer Street men knocked off the target for the loss of two wickets and with seven overs to spare.

The Radcliffe captain is now aiming to keep the pressure on leaders Crompton when his side entertain Middleton on Saturday.

The Homer Street men are just one behind the table-toppers, albeit having played a game more, but Berry is taking nothing for granted against the seventh-placed side.

“Middleton have got a good professional and we don’t want to be underestimating them,” he said.

“We’ve got to keep up the pressure on the top place.”