Darshika keeps Townville on track for first Bradford League title
Townville took another big step towards a first Bradford Cricket League crown when they defeated Carlton by five wickets.
It was a team effort that earned a comfortable success which left Townville 10 points ahead at the top of the Premier Division with two matches remaining.
With one of their rivals, New Farnley, losing it now looks like being a straight fight between the Castleford-based side and Woodlands – and Townville know the title will theirs if they can win both of their remaining games.
They showed no signs of nerves as they dismissed Carlton for 179 with the wickets shared between Tom Chippendale (3-70), Usman Arshad (3-28), Mathew Lumb (2-49), and Jack Hughes (2-25).
Sanoj Darshika led their chase with 68, including 14 fours, while Jonny Booth made 32 and Liam Collins (25no) and Usman Arshad (12no) saw Townville home by the 42nd over.
Methley are finishing the season well and were convincing winners of their Premier Division game against Farsley.
After going in first they made 214-9 with James Wainman hitting 55, Taylor Cornall 47 and Kyle Welsh 35.
Farsley's reply lasted only 25 overs as they were dismissed for 76. Wainman followed up his batting effort by taking 4-28 and Cornall also completed a fine all-round display with 4-30.
Great Preston’s promotion hopes in Division Two took a hit when they lost by three wickets to Altofts in a high scoring contest.
Sohail Ahmed narrowly missed a century, hitting 98 from 87 balls with 16 fours and three sixes, while James Conlon made 34 and Oli Baron 28 as Great Preston posted a 274-9 total.
But Altofts responded strongly and held their nerve in a thrilling finish, getting over the line from the final delivery of the match. Conlon (3-72) was the pick of Preston’s bowlers.
The result left third-placed Great Preston 16 points behind leaders Bowling Old Lane and 13 behind Hunslet Nelson.
Streethouse collected a 20-point maximum haul when they beat promotion-chasing Keighley by eight wickets.
A great start saw Keighley reduced to 10-4 and although Yasar Ali counter-attacked with 48 from 45 balls they were bowled out for 104. Ismail Patel was the chief destroyer with 5-47.
Streethouse lost Dishane Rodrigo without a run on the board as they began their reply, but Matthew Gibson's unbeaten 53 and Gabe Lawson's 41 not out quickly removed any prospect of an upset. Their unbroken third-wicket partnership helped carry Streethouse home in 25.4 overs.