NELSON finally got their season off to a start when Enfield visited Seedhill on Sunday - and got off the mark at Burnley on Bank Holiday Monday.
On Sunday, Enfield won the toss and elected to bat, but the home side took the early honours.
Richard Meade had Nasser Hussain caught behind by Russell Bradley, and Waqas Tahir bowled Ash Gowers for a duck to put Enfield on 3-2.
Adam Bracewell, the destroyer of Colne two weeks ago, joined his professional, Werner Coetsee, at the wicket and they quickly turned their team’s fortunes around.
Bracewell made 24 before Neil Thompson took a good catch off the bowling of Meade to dismiss him.
Nelson brought on their new professional, Shahzaib Hasan, to bowl his off-breaks, but both Coetsee and new batsman, Joe Wrigley, hit him for huge sixes.
Hasan had the satisfaction of bowling Wrigley but had to be removed from the attack after Coetsee hit him for two more sixes.
A partnership of 94 developed between Coetsee and Sagawat Hussain, with none of the bowlers escaping punishment.
Rizwan Hussain and Waqas Tahir suffered the most as the runs piled up.
The 94 was scored in 51 minutes off 15 overs, but the stand was ended when Toqir Hussain held a catch off a steepler.
Sagawat’s 43 included two boundaries.
Hassan Fazal carried on the run feast as he and Coetsee put together an unbroken partnership of 117 in the final 19 overs.
Coetsee finished on 127 not out after hitting six fours and seven sixes.
Fazal couldn’t find the boundaries in the last few overs and had to settle for a knock of 48 not out.
Nelson had to chase a mammoth 278 to win and were never in the hunt.
They opened with Lewis Bradley and Chris Willan but both struggled to push the score along, particularly against Coetsee, who opened the attack with his spin bowling.
In fact, both were bowled by Coetsee, Willan for one and Bradley for 13.
The Nelson professional, Hasan, was joined at the crease by David Crotty and both settled to give home supporters some encouragement.
They put on 71 in 17 overs before Hasan was caught at wide mid-off for 44 - a score which included two sixes and three fours.
Crotty soon followed him back to the pavilion, caught behind for 36.
Rizwan Hussain (4) and Russell Bradley (6) had brief visits to the wicket but Chris Heap’s visit was even shorter.
He was run out without even facing a ball!
Neil Thompson produced the most enterprising batting in the Nelson innings as he hit 58 in 50 minutes with the aid of 10 boundaries but he was dismissed by a returning Coetsee in the 42nd over - just as thoughts of reaching a total of 227 for a bonus point were sprouting.
In the end, the tail failing to wag, Nelson were all out for 193 and were beaten by 84 runs.
Meanwhile, Bank Holiday Monday saw Nelson win at Turf Moor.
A day with a mixed weather saw the start delayed for an hour while the drizzle stopped.
Nelson were inserted and Burnley started well, with both Cole Hayman (1-27) and professional Adnan Rasool bowling well to keep the visitors in check on a good wicket.
Nelson continued to make steady progress, with the reliable James Capstick (2-37 off 13 overs) and Rasool (4-68) restricting the visitors to 178 off 41 overs.
In reply, Burnley got off to a flying start and were 30-1 off five overs with the loss of Josh Whitehead.
The response was built on Qasim Ali (29) and Dan Pickup (30), but when the home side were reduced to 106-5, the rate required was six an over, with the hosts just off the pace - with rain threatening.
It was down to Rasool, who scored a run-a-ball 44, and shared partnerships with captain Steve Brunt and Gus Whitehead (18 not out).
But with 11 required off the last over, Burnley fell seven runs short.
Tomorrow Nelson host Rishton in the first fixed free date, before a trip to champions Lowerhouse on Sunday.