Leeds Caribbean and Scarcroft are set for a final day battle for the title in Division One of the Leeds and Wetherby Cricket League on Saturday.
With one round remaining and a maximum of 15 points on offer, Leeds Caribbean are seven points clear at the top from Scarcroft.
The leaders host mid-table Thorner Mexborough, while Scarcroft travel to second-bottom Sicklinghall on a blockbuster final day of action.
The two teams are big rivals, with them already playing each other in the finals of the league’s Fred Fleetwood T20 Cup and Senior Evening Cup 100-ball competitions.
Scarcroft won the former and Caribbean the latter.
Caribbean missed the opportunity to wrap up the league title in last Saturday’s penultimate round of matches – a clash between the top two, which Scarcroft won by three wickets chasing 229 in 45 overs to claim 13 points to eight.
Having been inserted, Leeds Caribbean’s 228-7 was underpinned by opener Ubaid Zia’s superb 107 off 100 balls. Eighty four of his runs came in the form of 12 fours and six sixes.
But they will be frustrated that nobody else reached 30 as the league’s star player James Van Der Merwe claimed 4-48 from eight overs of off-spin, including the wicket of the centurion.
It was a day to remember for South African all-rounder Van Der Merwe, who set Scarcroft’s chase on its way with 58 off 53.
He dominated a second-wicket partnership of 82 with wicketkeeper Chris Page (20) after the early wicket of opening partner Javed Ahmed as the score fell to 6-1.
But a destructive middle order 67 from Madan Basavarajaiah – he came in at 93-3 – built on Van Der Merwe’s good work.
He walloped six sixes and five fours in 39 balls.
Even still, there was work to do for the hosts because Basavarajaiah fell as one of three wickets for Harold Campbell, leaving the score at 193-6 with 36 still required.
Thankfully, in the interests of a neutral’s desire to keep the title race alive, Dhilin Goven sealed the win for Scarcroft – with almost 14 overs to spare – with an unbeaten 27 off 15.
Van Der Merwe is the Division One’s leading run-scorer with 868 runs from 18 appearances – more than 200 runs more than anyone else. He is also the leading wicket-taker with 40.
The pair’s final day opponents were both beaten at the weekend.
Barwick in Elmet chased 161 for the loss of only three wickets with nearly 15 overs remaining at home to Thorner.
James Todd claimed 5-27 from 12 overs for the hosts, whose chase featured a brilliant unbeaten 100 off 61 balls for Ewan Hardy after he came in at 30-2.
Sicklinghall lost by five wickets at bottom side Green Hammerton, who chased down 177 with only a ball to spare. Opener Amit Patil made 75 for them and Khaibar Rahim an unbeaten 48.
That was a victory which also kept the battle to avoid relegation alive given Sicklinghall are 12 points clear of Green Hammerton.
Elsewhere, Crossgates won a thriller at Scholes, chasing 192 to win by two wickets with 5.5 overs remaining.
Shahbaz Hussain took the new ball for them and claimed 4-45 from 9.2 overs before later hitting the winning runs in a useful nine not out.
Scores of 49 from opener Chamith Subasinghe and 44 from Balraj Seehra were crucial for Crossgates, as was ManiKanta Kumar’s 36.
???? Yorkshire Cricket Honours Board – Week 2?1?
Congratulations to everyone who has taken wickets over the last week ????
Here’s a look at the best bowling performances ???? #OneRose pic.twitter.com/iCHrYh3h3P— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) September 9, 2021
????? Yorkshire Cricket Honours Board – Week 2?1?
Congratulations to everyone who has scored runs over the last week ????
Here's a look at the best batting performances ???? #OneRose pic.twitter.com/GVyr1VrWbI— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) September 9, 2021
