Skipper Mahboob Hussain praised match-winning all-rounder Nasser Jamal as Manningham Mills celebrated promotion with a 52-run win at Windhill.

The victory earned them 18 points and they finished five ahead of Spen Victoria, who suffered the frustration of missing out on promotion despite a comfortable six-wicket home win against Lightcliffe, whose defeat means they have to seek re-election.

Jamal struck five sixes in a crucial innings of 68 down the order, enabling Windhill to reach 224 - one short of a fourth batting point - before taking five for 48 as the bottom side were bowled out for 172.

However, the outcome of the match might have taken a different course if Windhill's overseas player Avenish Aware had been able to take a catch on the boundary edge just after Mills had lost their ninth wicket at 172 and end the innings on the same score.

It seemed to be a straight- forward catch and, to add to Windhill's woes, the ball went for six to give Mills their second batting point.

The home side paid dearly after that miss as Jamal and skipper Mahboob added a decisive 52 for the last wicket.

Mills, who began the day two points in front of third-placed Spen, made the right decision after winning the toss, opting to bat first in a bid to gain maximum points from the match and put the promotion issue beyond all possible doubt.

However, things did not go to plan after a promising first-wicket stand of 32 between Adal Islam and Shehzad Aslam. Once they were parted, Mills lost wickets regularly as Leon Harber took five for 47 in an unchanged 15-over spell.

Adal made 39 but, despite his efforts and those of Muenoddin Kadri (39) and overseas player Afsar Nawaz (29), Mills were in trouble at 119 for seven before Jamal began his rescue act.

No sooner had he taken off his pads than Jamal was making inroads into the Windhill batting line-up, removing Harber off the first ball of the innings, and he and Jemaal Hussain picked up more wickets to leave Windhill in deep trouble at 34 for five.

Tony Jones led the recovery and found a valuable partner in skipper Dean Skillicorn, who came in at 114 for eight.

They shared an entertaining ninth-wicket stand of 58 before Jamal finished the match with two wickets in successive balls, bowling Jones for 58 and then knocking back Dale McKenzie's middle stump next delivery.

Delighted skipper Hussain said: "It is an amazing feeling. It is good for the club and good for the area and for the boys - they deserved it after a hard season - but we relied a lot of Jamal in this match.

"There have been one or two ups and downs in the season. We thought we should have won it more comfortably and it shows what a difficult and competitive division this is.

"Bowling Old Lane deserved the championship because they played superbly all the way through.

"I am mighty relieved - it has been a great achievement for the players and for Manningham - the result of hard work from a lot of people and a boost for inner-city cricket."

On the other side of Bradford, a superb all-round performance by Chris Elstub was not enough to earn Spen promotion after the home side were forced to bat second.

Elstub ripped through Light-cliffe's early batting, taking the first four wickets as the visitors were reduced to a paltry 31 for six.

Spen then took off the pressure as James Shaw (51) and Paul Ramsden (27) staged a recovery with a seventh-wicket stand of 69.

But Ramsden was out at 100 and Elstub returned to finish off the innings with a hat-trick, giving him outstanding figures of eight for 22 in 13.3 overs as Lightcliffe were bowled out for 130.

Spen lost Phil Carter early but skipper Matt Taylor (55 not out) and Elstub (64) put them on the road to a 15-point victory with a second-wicket stand of 107. However, their efforts were in vain.

Old Lane were presented with the championship trophy before their match at Undercliffe but then went down to their fifth defeat of the season.

Kamran Siddique, promoted in the batting order, top-scored with 56 as the champions made 226 for nine but opener James Clarke led Undercliffe to their eight-wicket victory with 110 not out, sharing an unbroken third-wicket stand of 154 with David Taylor, who made 88 not out.

Hartshead Moor banished any fears of having to seek re-election with a 41-run success over Esholt that earned them a maximum 20 points.

Shoaib Khan top-scored with 119, sharing a third-wicket stand of 125 with skipper Matthew Evans (58) as Hartshead made 280 for six. Andy Halford then took eight for 85 as Esholt were bowled out for 239, James Soulsby making 84.

Gomersal enjoyed a 156-run run over Yeadon, Sri Lankan Malintha Thotiwilage scoring 95 out of 236 before Yeadon were dismissed for 86.

And Nasser Hussain took six for 48 as Great Horton beat Bankfoot by 36 runs.