CREWE picked up their first league win of the season with a five-wicket success against Haslington on Saturday.

The visitors batted first in the Division One clash at Newcastle Road and a fine opening spell by Nick Lange saw him pick up three wickets to leave them floundering on 14-3. Skipper Andy Hayes and Lee Morris took the score to 56 but when Morris went for 23, the innings subsided to 95 all out with only Hayes (37no) showing any resistance.

Fine bowling by Mike Holt (3-16) and Shahid Khan (3-53), together with Lange's 3-17 - including the vital wicket of Andre Percival - did the damage.

Percival took two early wickets for Haslington but Nick Bentley (22) and Aamir Iqbal (16) guided Crewe towards their target before Mohammed Amin (27no) and Tom Gower (16) put on 50. Gower was out attempting the winning hit.

Crewe eventually reached 96-5 to claim a welcome 20-point haul.

Elworth outplayed a strong Burlsem in a high-scoring draw. After being invited to bat, opener Mike Robinson (23) and pro Ian Mitchell (40) added 69 runs in 84 minutes to blunt the home attack.

At 70-3, skipper Dave Palin continued the scoring momentum, hitting 60 runs from 78 balls as he added 104 for the fourth wicket with Rob Beech (58 no), as Elworth hit 208-4 from their 60 overs.

The Burslem reply was built around an unbeaten 80 from ex-England U17s opener Chris Lowndes.

No other batsman offered much support as Mitchell (4-42) and Jim Higgins (2-72) chipped away at the Burslem innings, but they just ran out of time as Burslem clung on at 175-8 after 51 overs.

In the ECB Premier Division, tight last-over bowling from Betley helped them earn a draw in a thriller at Leek.

Betley were out for 127 but soon had Leek in trouble by taking three wickets for four runs. Professional Alfonso Thomas scored 46 while Staffordshire's Richard Cooper took 4-29 as the game headed towards a nailbiting finish.

With nine wickets down, Leek needed to score five runs off the final over to win but took just three as the match ended in a draw. Betley took 7pts, Leek 8pts.

Second-team scores - Premier Division: Betley 135-4 (A Simcock 43), Leek 133ao (S Reynolds 6-39). Division One: Elworth 162-9, Burslem 111-7; Haslington 120-9, Crewe 81ao.