Defending champions Accrington quickly returned to winning ways as they left Burnley with a six-wicket win on Sunday.

After losing the toss and being asked to field first, the visitors restricted Burnley to 168-9, with South African professional Ockert Eramus leading the bowling line-up.

He took four wickets for 49 runs as Accrington stifled the Burnley batting line-up.

In reply, Accrington steamrolled to a total of 171-4 in 38.2 overs. Simon Hanson top-scored with 76 not out, with Graham Lloyd adding 37 and captain Stuart Crabtree contributing an important 24 as well.

The result left Accrington fourth, seven points behind pacesetters East Lancashire, who beat Accy the previous day.

Crabtree said: “We stuck to our game plan and played better cricket than we had done against East Lancs. We bounced back well at the first attempt and thoroughly deserved the win in all honesty.

“We are a good side and we go into the next game against Colne on Sunday with plenty of confidence so we’ll see how it goes.

“This side is more than capable of putting a string of wins together so let’s hope we can do that over the next few weeks and start to climb the table.”

Rishton meanwhile picked up their first win of the season as they beat hosts Colne by 56 runs.

Colne won the toss and decided to field, and Rishton responded by reaching a score of 195 all out in 43.5 overs. South African pro Matt Hulett scored 42 and Abdul Bisoodwall chipped in with an impressive 37 as Rishton set a competitive target.

They then defended that target extremely well, bowling Colne out for 139 inside 40 overs.

Hulett completed a remarkable performance by taking five wickets for an extraordinary four runs. Afaq Sartaj also bowled well as he claimed four victims for 41 runs.

Eleventh-placed Rishton host seventh-placed Ramsbottom next.

Elsewhere, Church cruised to an eight-wicket win over Bacup at Blackburn Road.

The visitors batted first and could only muster 133 runs before they were bowled out inside 48 overs.

Pakistani professional Usman Tariq took 4-33 and Andrew Bentley 4-44 as Church kept their bowling accurate to line and length.

In response the home side rushed to 134-2 in just 28.3 overs to complete an easy victory.

Tariq top-scored with 45 not out, opener Levi Wolfenden added 44 and Lloyd Aspin scored 29.

Church rise to fifth in the table and they will travel to strugglers Nelson at the weekend, hoping to continue their good start to the season.

Finally, Enfield were left disappointed as they were soundly beaten by 57 runs at home against Lowerhouse.

Despite winning the toss and choosing to field, Enfield bowled fairly poorly and Lowerhouse were able to score 214-6.

South African pro Werner Coetsee took 3-69 and Hassan Fazal 2-47 but the bowlers were unable to keep the score below 200.

The home side then struggled with the bat, collapsing to 157 all out inside 44 overs.

Coetsee scored 51 and Greg Jones 46 but the rest of the batting order struggled to trouble the scoreboard.

Enfield now lie in joint-fifth and face a tough trip to third-placed Haslingden on Sunday.

Teams:Accrington

1st XI v Colne (h), Sunday, 1pm start: Stuart Crabtree, Simon Hanson, Graeme Sneddon, Sam Excell, Jake Clarke, Matt Wilson, Liam Smalley, Jimmy Hayhurst, Bryn Hargreaves, Jacob Johnson, Ockert Erasmus. Meet Accrington, 11.45am.

2nd XI v Colne (a), Sunday, 1pm start: Jon Hayhurst, Andy Greenwood, Scott Hudson, Ali Hasham, Ben Excell, Gul Khan, Ramiz Hussain, Ben Brierley, Joe Lloyd, Callum Ali, Matt Donnelly. Meet Accrington, 11.30am.

Enfield

1st XI v Haslingden (a), Sunday: A Bracewell, D Bracewell, J Wrigley, K Demaine, H Fazal, L Bedford, S O’Loughlin, G Jones, B Dowling, T Hamill, W Coetsee. Meet 11.30am.

2nd XI v Haslingden (h), Sunday: J Seedle, M Ahmed, L Barker, S Wilkinson, C Maudsley, C Bowness, A Whittaker, L Wright, S Cook, J Cook, A Shackleton. 12th man: P Wilkinson. Meet 11.45am.

3rd XI v Ramsbottom (a), Saturday: S Cook, L Wright, L Barker, C Clarke, D Clarke, L Garraghty, P Wilkinson, A Cook, M Basharat, F Basharat, C Seddon. 12th men: Daniel Holden, Phil Wright. Meet 11.15am.

3rd XI v Accrington (h), Monday: H Kerr, A Shackleton and J Forset for P Wilkinson, C Seddon, L Wright. Meet 11.45am.