Bradford duo Clayton and Thornton both celebrating success

One that didn’t was in the Premier Division, where only 26 balls were possible at Hill Top Lane.

Thornton made 21-1 at home to second-placed Booth, but the rain had the benefit of seeing the home side crowned league champions for the second successive year.

Warley & Elland were at Shelf Northowram Hedge Top, and put daylight between themselves and the relegation places with a two-wicket win.

The hosts posted 149, with Chris Metcalf (49) the top scorer, Tyler Stagg (6-53) doing most of the damage with the ball.

In reply, the bulk of the runs came from four batters, with Stagg (30) top-scoring as they won in the 41st over with 151-8.

The rain reached Oxenhope early and their match against Luddendenfoot was abandoned after the visitors had scored 21-0.

Sadly for the Foot, that no-result signalled their relegation to the First Division.

Clayton are heading the other way, as they took over at the top of the second tier for the first time, leading Upper Hopton by two points.

With Great Horton Park Chapel losing at home, both teams were promoted to the top-flight on Saturday.

Next Saturday, Clayton host Mytholmroyd, with Augustinians visiting Hopton, so the destination of the title will go to the wire in the last matches of this division’s 21-game schedule.

At Blackley, where Clayton visited, the match was reduced to 29 overs and the home team could only post 78-5, as four Clayton bowlers produced very tight performances.

Matt Roe and Scott Etherington took two wickets apiece, as Blackley crawled along at under three runs per over.

In total contrast came the visitors’ reply, as they scored a promotion-clinching 81-3 in only 10.2 overs, Roe finishing the game off with 29 not out from 16 balls.

Upper Hopton had to settle for six points in their home encounter with Low Moor Holy Trinity, with the match well poised when the rain arrived.

The hosts had scored 173-9 in their reduced 34 overs, with the scoring led by Harry Scott (78), Stuart Fenton (4-43) and James Overend (4-46) being the chief wicket takers.

Trinity had reached 134-4 halfway through the 25th over when the rains returned, leaving a question as to whether they would have added the remaining 40 runs for victory.

However, with Ryan Williamson on 51 not out, we will never know.

Great Horton’s faint hope of promotion was washed away - not by the rain but by visitors Greetland, who won by 46 runs.

The visitors scored 197-6, with Shakeel Mahmood’s 104 not out the outstanding effort.

In reply, a disappointing Horton could only reach 151, squashing any hope of them staying in the promotion battle.

In the Second Division, Sowerby St Peter’s have a 10-point lead at the summit after thrashing bottom-of-the-table Bridgeholme by nine wickets, and have been promoted.

In an extraordinary game, Bridgeholme were skittled for just 23, St Peter’s completing their successful reply inside four overs.

And their lead at the top increased after second-placed Oakworth came a cropper at Cullingworth, losing by 97 runs.

Despite the disappointing defeat, Oakworth will be consoled by the fact that they too have been officially promoted.

For once, Oakworth malfunctioned with the bat, but they still went up after defeat to Cullingworth. (Image: John Ashton.)

The hosts batted first and scored 253-6 in their reduced 42 overs.

Charlie Smith scored a career-best 87 not out but was left stranded in sight of his maiden century that he may have achieved with the extra three overs.

Elliot Robinson was also in the runs with 79 as Bradley Powell took 4-72 for the visitors.

Oakworth’s reply was well below par as no batter could reach 40 and, with James Bloodworth taking 4-74, they were all out for 156 in the 28th over.

Finally, there was an excellent contest at Mount in a middle-of-the-table clash with Queensbury.

The home team batted first, with Ismail Mayat (78no) and Anees Rawat (49) in an impressive total of 256-7.

The visitors were on target almost throughout their innings but, despite the efforts of Oliver Challis (67) and Will Mackay (46) in particular, they fell six runs short, finishing on 250-7.