AN unplayable spell of bowling by Simon Read that ripped the heart out of an impressive Burnley batting line up set up a restorative 113-run win for Ramsbottom.

Chasing a competitive 187-9, table-topping Burnley were proceeding serenely enough at more than three an over until a memorable fifth over from the Ramsbottom warhorse took out the visitors top order with three wickets in four balls and they eventually fell to 74 all out.

Read started the collapse by uprooting pro Chris Holt's off stump and then sent back Davis Brown lbw before bowling his brother Michael Brown the next ball.

There was still work to be done while Vishal Tripathi was still at the crease and looking composed.

After a couple of relative quiet overs from Read, he found Tripathi's outside edge and he was caught low but nonchalantly by pro Daryn Smit at slip.

Vishal's brother, Bharrat Tripathi, went the same way, this time to a brilliant swooping effort, before Read had Michael Kelly caught behind to finish with 6-27 off 13 wonderful, pulsating overs that had the crowd on its feet.

It then fell to Smit to finish off the Burnley innings, bemusing their lower order with his sliders and googlies.

Earlier in the day, the prospect of such a comfortable win had appeared distant with Ramsbottom not so much becalmed as high and dry on a jagged reef at 102-6.

Only Tom Parton (26) made any significant progress before Dale Gabriel (46) came to the crease.

Gabriel employed his full repertoire of standard, slog and paddle sweeps interspersed with top edged fours to third man and an exquisite punch through extra cover for another boundary.

He put on 79 scintillating runs in quick time in partnership with Smit (51).

On a good wicket against a team that had scored 370 the previous weekend, Ramsbottom were by no means favourites but their 187 represented one of those in-between targets that can so often be troubling to the chasing team. So it proved.