Leaders Harrogate maintained their unbeaten record with a five wicket win at Sheffield Collegiate in the ECB Yorkshire League.

Collegiate were bowled out for 114 with teenage pace bowler Sam Davies taking 4-16. Harrogate were struggling in reply at 61-5, but then opener Alexis Twigg and Adny Hawkswell settled any nerves with an unbroken stand of 54, Twigg top scoring with 53.

York moved into second place after beating Barnsley at home by eight wickets. Barnsley were in trouble at 48-6 before Matthew Wilson and Tom Shaw led a revival with a seventh wicket stand of 49 before they were bowled out for 123. Duncan Snell (48) and Liam McKendry (46 not out) then put York on course for victory with an opening stand of 97 before the home side reached their target in 21.4 overs.

Sheffield United beat Cleethorpes by seven wickets. Zafran Ali took 5-26 as the visitors were bowled out for 146. It could have been even worse for Cleethorpes as they lost their first five wickets for ten runs, but James Osmond (55) and John Mansfield led a recovery with an eighth wicket stand of 51. Brothers Paul and Mark Cummins then set United on course for victory with an opening partnership of 89, Paul making 61 not out and Mark 57.

Rotherham gained a tense three-run win over Castleford – a defeat that sent Castleford to the foot of the table. Stuart Guy (59) and Jordan Lowe (66) put on 96 for the fourth wicket as Rotherham reached 236-9. Brayden Clark (61) and Will Simpson (52) rose to the challenge with a second wicket stand of 94 to keep Castleford in contention to the end, but they finished three runs short with eight wickets down as Gurman Randhawa took 5-82.

Yorkshire Academy gained a 20-run win in a high scoring game at Scarborough. Main feature of the Academy’s total of 278-4 was a second wicket partnership of 174 between Jonathon Tattersall (114) and Jack Leaning (76). Scarborough made a big effort to match this challenging total before finishing on 258-9 with S Sharma (76), A Simpson (53) and Darren Harland (47) their top scorers.

Hull beat Doncaster by 100 runs thanks to David Barrick making 118 in their formidable total of 299-6.

David Markham

© Cricket World 2012