LITTLE Lever will be boosted by the signing of Indian Premier League superstar Bipul Sharma this week as they continue to search for their first win of the season.

The professional, who kept England star Eoin Morgan out of the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad which faced the Royal Challengers Bangalore in yesterday's IPL final, is set to make his debut against Farnworth Social Circle next weekend.

Sharma's current club captain is Australian international David Warner, but when he touches down in Manchester it will be up to stand-in Little Lever captain Josh Gent to step up to the plate, as skipper Jon Kerrigan is away on holiday.

And Gent revealed there is an excitement circling the club ahead of Sharma's arrival.

“He's currently playing in the most prestigious Twenty20 tournament in the world, I don't think there's any doubt that he'll win games for us on his own,” Gent said.

“His captain at the minute is David Warner, that just tells you the standard he is playing at.

“There is an excitement around the place but we have been trying to keep it quiet because we have been really unlucky with professionals this year. We have had about three let us down already.

“We have had a lot of sub pros but it's just not the same. You don't always get 100 per cent but with a steady pro you know what you've got and if a pro plays every week then it brings the best out of everyone.”

The Victory Road outfit were unable to prevent a heavy eight-wicket defeat to Walkden on Saturday.

Sayed Shah (4-38) and Jonathan Fowler (3-42) caused havoc with the ball to dismiss the hosts for 158.

Sub professional Babar Naeem (38) and Adam Carter (31) were the only batters of note.

Aiden Markram smashed 69 not out in reply and Taylor Hayes added 57 as Walkden reached their target for the loss of only two wickets.

Little Lever are without a win this season and sit third-bottom in the table, but Gent believes the standings do not tell the whole story

He said: “We have only played three games and two have been abandoned.

"The games we have played have been against some of the bigger teams and those that have been called off have been against some of the smaller ones.

“It's always a big miss to lose your captain. He's a big part of what we do but he won't be involved for the next couple of weeks either.

“We played close games against Horwich and Westhoughton, this is probably the only week where we have taken a battering.”

Elsewhere, Farnworth Social Circle eased past Lostock with an eight-wicket win.

Liam Ashworth scored 25no and Andy Lane hit 24no as the Piggott Park side replied to the hosts target of 74, for the loss of only two wickets. Dave Mather did the damage with the ball posting figures of 6-33.

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FORMER Bolton Association sides are making their mark in the newly-expanded Bolton League with Daisy Hill and Blackrod looking to upset the odds on Saturday.

Astley Bridge were the visitors to St James Street but on a new wicket runs were scarce.

The bowler-friendly pitch allowed Steve Hodgkinson to complete a five-wicket haul for only 24 runs as the Sharples Park outfit were skittled out for 84.

Irfan Puda was the only batter of note scoring 25 from 52 balls.

It would be a sizeable target for most clubs and Daisy struggled at first in their reply and looked nervous on 61-7, which was mainly down to the tight bowling of Rakeb Mahmood (3-22) and Syd De Silva (3-27).

Adnan Raees hit 25 and Amjid Khan showed patience spending 99 minutes at the crease in return for only 22 runs, finishing unbeaten.

With 10 overs remaining Daisy wrapped up the win with three wickets remaining.

Horwich were pushed by Blackrod right to the death during a tight finale at the Recreation Ground.

Openers Phil Ingram and Matt Morris both scored 34 for the hosts, before professional Brett Pelser added 40.

Stephen Ashworth spearheaded the bowling attack taking five wickets for 20 runs as Horwich posted 163-9.

Ashworth turned his hand to the bat and top scored with 41 and Joe Pryle hit 36.

As Blackrod crept up to the target they needed four runs from as many overs, but the impressive Liam Bones (5-47) dismissed Joe Speak for 24 and wrapped up the four-run victory.

Adlington are another side impressing in their maiden Bolton League season and recorded a routine victory against struggling Tonge.

Suleman Mohammad (56), Iain Critchley (35), Steven Rawlinson (43) and Zaraq Nazir (24) all scored high as the Huyton Road side were bowled out for 253.

Ather Abid was the only bowler of note taking 3-83.

Tonge failed to score sufficient runs once again and their top scorer came from the 20 extras they received as they were bowled all out for 68 – Nazir (3-29) and Sajawal Khan (3-22) doing the damage with the ball.

Golborne picked up their second win of the season against Standish.

Shahrukh Khan and Aaron Clarke both bowled five-wicket hauls as the Simpson Fields side were bowled out for 120.

Muzammil Nizam (36) and Johann Brohier (26) were the only notable batters.

Zulqanain Khan hit 22 in reply but the bowling attack of Jake Waterworth (4-36), Jack Kidman (3-45) and Nizam (3-6) dismissed Standish for 88 – 32 runs short of the target.

Imran Butt scored 80 as Little Hulton wrapped up a comprehensive victory against Darcy Lever.

Anwar Ul-Haq and Adam Newton score 34 apiece as the hosts racked up a tally of 250.

Cameron Murray was the most notable bowler taking 5-66.

In reply skipper Nick Fawcett knocked 83 not out but he had little support from his teammates as Shaukat Patel (5-34) and Newton (3-19) impressed with the ball – leaving Darcy Lever stumped on 137-9.

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EAGLEY captain Asif Bhojani is proud of the togetherness of his side following a narrow victory at Bradshaw.

Stuart Hornby scored 106 – which included 16 boundaries – as Bradshaw posted a tough target of 214.

Professional Agar Salman bowled 6-62 before turning his hand to the bat and striking 96 in reply. Will Shuttleworth also scored 68 not out as Eagley chased down the target with two wickets remaining.

Phil Dickinson was the only bowler of note taking 4-50

Speaking of the win, Bhojani said: “It was a good win and we are all really happy with the result. We went into the season with a few wins and everybody is turning up and really enjoying it.

“It has been a real team effort. Will Shuttleworth has been holding the team together, but the young lads have been really impressing too, such as Adil Valli, and Jack Wainman the wicketkeeper is mopping up runs really well for us.

“We want to keep improving as a team and we don't want to stop at the one win, we want more and more and hopefully by the end of the season we will be really competing in every game.

Meanwhile, Kieran Edwards starred with the ball for Westhoughton as they ran out comfortable winners against Atherton.

Edwards bowled a five-wicket haul and Qaiser Abbas took three wicket as Atherton were dismissed for 69.

Abbas knocked 30no when he turned his hand to the bat as the Howfeners ran out eight-wicket winners.

Haroon Farhat (52) and Gary Garner (54no) both struck half-centuries as Heaton suffered their first defeat of the season to Kearsley.

Mustafa Bashir also chipped in with 30 but superb bowling from Grant Cordin (3-37) and Mohammed Jameel (3-95) saw Heaton dismissed for 196.

Cordin (44), Chris Baxendale (35), Jameel (28) all impressed with the bat as Kearsley replied with three wickets to spare.

Results

Adlington 253 Tonge 68. Adlington won by 185 runs.

Bradshaw 214 Eagley 215-8. Eagley won by 2 wkts.

Daisy Hill 85-7 Astley Bridge 84. Daisy Hill won by 3 wkts.

Horwich 163-9 Blackrod 159. Horwich won by four runs.

Kearsley 199-7 Heaton 196. Kearsley won by 3 wkts.

Little Hulton 250 Darcy Lever 137-9. Little Hulton won by 113 runs.

Little Lever 158 Walkden 159-2. Walkden won by 8 wkts.

Lostock 74 Farnworth Social Circle 75-2. Farnworth SC won by 8 wkts.

Standish 88 Golborne 120. Golborne won by 32 runs.

Westhoughton 72-2 Atherton 69. Westhoughton won by 8 wkts.