HOLTON-le-Clay and Western Old Boys and have booked their places in the semi-finals of the Ibwest Cup knockout competition.

Western clinched their place in the John Pettit Grimsby and District Cricket League tournament with a seven-wicket defeat of Blossom Way Old Boys.

Blossom Way were contained to 85 for five in their 16 overs, Ian Hallam claiming two for 33.

Although Danny Portas took two for 20 in his four overs it was not enough to stop Western chasing down their moderate target.

Holton-le-Clay are through to the semis at the expense of Punjab Lions, following a four-wicket victory at Tetney Lane.

Punjab struggled against a fine opening spell by the miserly Paul Jackson (5-1-10-2) and Andy Langford, with only 39 on the board at the halfway stage.

Dale Chambers continued his great form with the ball to return figures of four for 15 from his five overs, helped by Jason New behind the stumps (four victims).

Sandhu managed 35 but only two other batsmen reached double-figures to leave Holton needing 110 to win after the addition of the handicap runs.

Pete Briggs and Alan Tyler made a rapid start, conscious of the ever-fading light. And when Tyler fell for 16, in the seventh over, the total stood at 51.

Briggs then scored 46 before falling with the score on 85 at 16 overs, and it was left to New and Jackson to see Holton home in the dark with five balls to spare.

Hayre bowled tightly to take one for 17 but the others went for more than six runs an over.

The other quarter-finals have yet to played. Springfield Ibwest take on Catholic Sports while One Medical 1 face Grimsby Pumas, formerly Barton Windows.

In the previous round, Western OB were involved in an amazing 20 overs-a-side contest against Phoenix, in which both teams topped 200.

Western's 208 for three included 69 from Paul Ridley and 59 not out from Adreas Xiarcos.

Phoenix made 202 for six (Jaffri 118no) as Paul Rendall claimed two for 40.

First division champions Blossom Way cruised through with a confident 76-run win against North Thoresby, from division four.

But credit must go to the young Thoresby team – led by the evergreen Dave Richardson – who were prepared to play in atrocious conditions to get the game completed.

The final few overs were played in pouring rain and near-darkness, earning the plaudits of the Old Boys, who said the Thoresby lads were "a credit to their club."

Old Boys' 123 for five was based on Rob Todd's 37 and Garry Tillison's big-hitting 43 as Padley took two for 19 and Freeman two for 25.

Thoresby were not overawed by the champs but found runs hard to come by, Richardson's 14 not out being the only significant resistance in their 47 for five, with Ady Portus managing two for 11.

In the second round, Blossom Way OB had defeated Waltham Millers by five wickets, with just three balls to spare.

Millers were put into bat by Old Boys' skipper Nigel Fanthorpe and it soon paid dividends, three wickets falling for 12 runs to Tony Whiteman (4-0-15-2) and Ady Portus (4-0-22-2).

But then the tie turned on its head as man-of-the-match Rob Griffin, the Cleethorpes-based all-rounder, played an intelligent knock of 47 not out, ably assisted by Sands (13) and Brian Nicholson (12) to lift Millers' final total to 100 for five off their allotted 16 overs.

Back on their own Blossom Way ground for the first time this season, the Old Boys strongly fancied their chances with a strong batting line-up.

Danny Portus (32) and Steve Irving (20) gave them a fine start but the introduction of star man Griffin, in the 10th over, saw the game take another twist. He took five for 18 in 14 balls, taking out the entire top order – all bowled.

However, Old Boys' experienced Fanthorpe and Pete Nicholson saw them home, despite Griffin's efforts.

Punjab Lions saw off Crystal Millenium by the wide margin of 122 runs to reach the quarter-finals.

The Lions rattled up 146 for six, despite good bowling from Granger (three for 29) and Binns (two for 38).

However when those two opened the batting after the break they both departed for ducks and there was no way back as the Crystal reply was shattered by Pali (four for nine) and Udi Sheikh (two for seven) in an all-out 24.

In a second round tie, Old Medical 1 (from division two) defeated Keelby (division five) by 19 runs.

Rob Baty's undefeated 95 was just the tonic the Medicos wanted in a useful 145 for one.

But Keelby made a spirited reply, Alan Travis scoring 23 not out and Matt Bevis 14 in their 126 for seven, as Andy MacFarlane took two for 10 – the game's best figures.

In a round two tie, played at Augusta Street, James Osmond took four for six and scored an undefeated 60 as Springfield Ibwest won against Hendry Electrical.

Hendry made 85 for nine (Williams 24) in their 20 overs, with Springfield taking less than half that number to knock off the required runs.

John Hampson's six wickets ensured Wilkin Chapman BWT headed into round three in a tightly contested match that went down to the wire.

Starting his spell with a double-wicket maiden, Hampson destroyed the middle and late order, leaving the visitors from the division below all-out on 75.

BWT had Andy Ottley and Andy James to thank for calm heads in tough conditions, both contributing well to get the home side within reach, before a dramatic climax to the game.

James's late, late loss of his wicket and the team's seventh, rocked the boat with scores tied, before Jonathan King was caught and bowled three balls later.

With two balls remaining, and the game theirs if they didn't lose their wickets, Jonathan West was run out as Chris Laister stayed put in the crease following a defensive block, before calmly hitting the final ball for four to quench any ruling debate.

Had he lost his wicket, Humberston Blossom Way would have been declared winners on countback, as they were two runs ahead on scoring rate after 16 overs. A dot ball, and Hampson's heroics would have seen the home side snatch it on wickets taken.

After a break of three weeks due to withdrawals from division one, Holton-le-Clay finally got back to midweek action against division two's Old Clee.

In a game played in a great spirit, HLC, missing three key players – Pete Briggs, Paul Eames and Trevor Holmes – progressed to the next round.

Old Clee lost the toss and HLC opted to bat first, with Scott Indian and Alan Tyler starting swiftly, putting on 54 before Robertson removed Indian.

Change bowler Campbell quickly removed New. But Dale Chambers batted solidly to reach 52 before falling to Hayre, courtesy of a stumping by Bloomer.

Tyler (36) was the other major contributor in a challenging total of 124.

In reply, Old Clee never recovered from a shaky start, losing the pivotal Will Abe – bowled by Whittleton – who removed M Cambpell in the same way to finish with two for 18.

Shaun Campbell (42no) and Bloomer (20no) then saw their side home.

In a long-awaited second round tie, Holton-le-Clay Badgers beat Grainthorpe by seven wickets.

At sun-drenched Holton, acting Grainthorpe captain Pridgeon had no hesitation in electing to bat on a beautiful-looking wicket.

Big South African Koen immediately settled into things, despatching Barker for two fours and two sixes in his first tree overs.

But the young Badger quickie came back well to snaffle Elvridge for four, caught by Barker at short midwicket.

Clarke came to the crease to join Koen and between them they set the foundations for a potentially huge score for the visitors.

With only nine men available, the Badgers were struggling to fill the gaps superbly exploited by the batting pair and 200 was looking a distinct possibility until Olly Howard (5-0-29-1) continued his superb form this season by snaring Clark in the last over of his spell, caught behind by Steve Wright for a well-made 34.

Marsden then closed out his spell by claiming Burrell's wicket for a duck and a shift in momentum was there for the Badgers to grasp.

Change bowlers Barker and Fisher needed to grasp the opportunity and they didn't let there side down. Fisher (5-1-31-2) bowled Bains for a duck and removed the dangerous-looking Pridgeon for 17, Stu Barker taking his third catch of the innings in the process.

Barker (5-1-30-2) bowled Marsh for a duck and then took the big wicket of Koen, caught by Marsden in the deep for an aggressive 72, which included six fours and five sixes.

The timing of the wicket was perfect for the Badgers as it stemmed the flow of runs in the final few overs and it took a swift 11not out by Smith and six not out by Callanan to set the Badgers a target of 162.

Steve Wright and Ross Hewson made a good start to the Badgers reply, hitting 17 off the first two overs, but when Burrell banged in a short one to Hewson (six) off the first ball of his second over, the resulting top-edge to Arundel put the home side well and truly on the back foot.

Stu Barker came to the crease to join Wright and looked impressive in defence. He provided great support to the ever-expansive Wright at the other end and chipped in with a couple of sweetly-timed boundaries of his own before falling to a catch by Pridgeon, giving Burrell (5-0-41-2) his second wicket.

And when new batsman Howard played on to Pridgeon for one, things were looking a bit dicey for the home side. Needing around nine an over, the Badgers needed to give support to Wright, who was really starting to get in the groove.

Grainthorpe bowlers Bains and Callanan both started their spells well but then struggled to contain Wright's dominance at the crease, both going wicket-less for a combined total of 70 runs from their 10 overs.

Jason Fisher was batting with increasing confidence at the other end and began to take some of the bowling from Wright, who was starting to tire in the heat.

Needing around 40 from the final five overs, Wright dug deep to find another gear, moving into the 80s with two fours and into the 90s with a massive six.

The game was back in Badgers' hands and a superb victory was brought up off the first ball of the last over when Wright cover drove to the ropes to bring up his century and a seven-wicket win for the Badgers, who progressed to face One Medicals in round three.

It was a great knock of 22 not out by Fisher but all the plaudits went to Wright whose 101 not out included 15 fours and three sixes and was his third century for the club in just over two seasons.

The final of this year's competition will be on Monday, August 2 at Chichester Road, by kind permission of Cleethorpes CC. Should bad weather come along, the "reserve date" is August 9.

Teams/clubs are reminded to send their results immediately after the game to Nigel Fisher, 10 Springfield Road, Brigg, North Lincs, DN20 8DD. Email scoopfisher@aol.com