Stretford were the visitors to the Sports Club on Saturday and with Bury electing to bat on a fast, hard track Qasar Riaz again dominated the early overs for a quickfire 38, which provided the foundation for a big total.

Mike Brawn and James Stone also made useful contributions, bu the fireworks arrived when Steve Dublin arrived at the wicket for his best innings of the season to date.

His score of 96 out of a partnership of 127 came off 69 balls.

Stretford's reply to the Bury total of 236 was equally spectacular with Bishop smashing the ball to the boundary for 72 runs in a nine-over partnership of 79.

Sharma was still a threat and although a brake was placed on the run rate, Stretford were still well-placed. Enter Sam Leech.

In a spell of bowling that totally transformed the game, Sam took six wickets, the final five all clean bowled, to secure Bury 20 points for a 13-run victory.

If Saturday was exciting, Sunday proved even better, with league leaders Wythenshawe the visitors for the HC Smith Cup semi-final.

Again winning the toss and batting, the wheels were soon coming off in spectacular fashion.

At 30 for 5 after 14 overs, the cup dream was turning into a nightmare, but sensible batting from Jon Shaw and Dave Leach steadied the innings, but when they were both out with the total on 65, something special was required.

It arrived in the shape of a superb 73-run partnership from Sam Leach and Andrew Metcalfe, who batted sensibly to give Bury a final total of 138.

Good, tight bowling by the Bury attack soon gained its rewards with John Wiggans making the initial breakthrough and finishing with four wickets in a crucial eight-over spell.

Further accurate bowling by the rest of the attack totally dominated the Wythenshawe batsmen and when Lesroy Irish bowled the last man, a memorable victory had been won.

Bury now face Monton & Weaste in the final on Sunday, August 19.

Manchester Association

BURY v STRETFORD

BURY

Q. Riaz c Turner b Walsh...38

M. Brawn c Sharma b Walsh...26

J. Stone c Hughes b Kelly...42

S. Dublin c Bishop b Sharma...96

L. IRish c Hughes b Sharma...7

J. Shaw c Rose b Sharma...11

S. Leach b Kelly...2

D. Leach run out...1

A. Metcalfe not out...0

J. Wiggans not out...0

Extras...13

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Total (for 8) 236

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51 overs

G. Sharma 20-6-45-3; M. Kelly 6-1-45-2; V. Walsh 16-1-82-2; R. Buckingham 3-1-24-0; C. Barlow 4-0-29-0.

STRETFORD

C. Turner c Allen b Irish...1

N. Butterworth b Irish...0

M. Bishop c Dublin b D. Leach...72

G. Sharma b S. Leach...74

C. Hughes run out...1

W. Rose c Irish b S. Leach...37

C. Barlow b S. Leach...9

D. Barlow b S. Leach...13

M. Kelly b S. Leach...0

V. Walsh not out...0

R. Buckingham b S. Leach...0

Extras...16

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Total 223

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44.5 overs

L. Irish 17-0-80-2; A. Metcalfe 4-1-23-0; J. Wiggans 2-0-25-0; D. Leach 10-0-36-1; S. Leach 9.5-2-28-6; S. Dublin 2-0-14-0.

H. C. SMITH TROPHY

BURY v WYTHENSHAWE

BURY

Q. Riaz c Wisnieski b Quinn...15

M. Brawn c & b Quinn...11

J. Stone b Costello...0

S. Dublin c Cutting b Quinn...2

L. Irish c Haberson b Crowther...1

J. Shaw lbw Crowther...16

D. Leach not out...35

A. Metcalfe not out...28

Extras...14

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Total (for 7) 138

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40 overs

K. Quinn 8-2-19-3; D. Costello 8-1--13-1; C. Crowther 8-2-21-2; J. Wisnieski 2-0-10-0; J. Rudge 8-2-23-1; A. Holmes 4-0-31-0; C. Miller 2-0-11-0.

WYTHENSHAWE

C. Miller b Wiggans...3

J. Wisnieski st Allen b Wiggans...8

J. Rudge b Riaz b D. Leach...40

D. Costello b Wiggans...0

M. Hazlehurst lbw Wiggans...8

J. Cutting c Allen b S. Leach...4

A. Holmes c Metcalfe b D. Leach...5

I. Haberson b Metcalfe...11

C. Crowther c D. Leach b Metcalfe...6

R. Taylor not out...3

K. Quinn b Irish...0

Extras...20

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Total 108

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34.5 overs

L. Irish 7.5-4-8-1; J. Wiggans 8-1-35-4; S. Leach 8-0-34-1; D. Leach 8-3-16-2; A. Metcalfe 3-0-6-2.