Colne could only pick up a point as they travelled to Burnley on Sunday, with the sun making a rare appearance.
Colne won the toss and chose to bat, but, against tight Burnley bowling,Colne crawled to 51-2 from 25 overs.
Khurrum Nazir (28) and Ali Akram (27) were top scorers. Later in the innings, Burnley brought Michael Kelly’s left arm spin into the attack. Colne made the attempt to go after quick runs, but Kelly took 5-35 from 7.2 overs, and Colne made 135 all out.
Colne needed quick wickets, and did not get them. Brad Ramshead made a tricky catch look easy to get the wicket of Steve Brunt, but that brought former Colne man Qasim Ali to the crease, and he played a very aggressive game, to good effect. Van Schalkwyk bowled at his fastest, and the faster he bowled, the faster the ball came off the bat – sometimes middled, sometimes edged, but either way it sped to the boundary far too frequently. Ali made 51 from 34 balls, and by the time he was fourth out to Joel Duerden’s first ball, the game was all but over.
Duerden was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets, the second of them dismissing pro Adnan Rasool when Burnley were two runs from victory, and earning Colne a single bonus point. Burnley didn’t even reach the drinks break, as the winning runs came in the 25th over.
Colne are at Church tomorrow, followed by a home clash against Lowerhouse on Sunday. Tonight sees the start of the Twenty20 at Todmorden.