Yorkshire’s D40 Tykes team continued their march towards promotion with a fifth straight win, by 82 runs over Cheshire at Higham CC on Sunday.
The Tykes sit top of the D40 Pursuit North League, 45 points clear of second-placed Shropshire.
A 30-point haul at the Barnsley club was secured with relative comfort against a Cheshire side who sit bottom of the five-team table with only one win.
James O’Conner produced the day’s standout performance, his 78 off 75 balls at the top of the order underpinning a total of 196 all out inside 36 of 40 overs.
Yorkshire had lost the toss, but his contribution was expertly supported by England Physical Disability player Liam Thomas with 30. The pair shared 42 for the first wicket.
O’Conner later added a crucial 89 for the fourth wicket with Luke Riley (21) after a loss of three wickets for three runs had wobbled the visitors. England Learning Disability Ashes winner Rob Hewitt also added 20 down the order.
In reply, Cheshire were pressurised quickly, their hopes of a surprise win all but gone at 28-3. They were restricted to 114-8 from their 40 overs in the face of a polished bowling display.
Hewitt’s fellow LD Ashes winner Alex Jervis struck twice, as did Owen Morris, while John Kenward-Nash, Sami Intikhab and Liam Savage all struck once.
The tone had been set with the new ball by William Baxter, who returned a miserly 0-10 from seven overs, while Kenward-Nash was just as tidy with his 1-10 from eight having come into the attack first change.
This victory means that across Yorkshire’s D40 and S9 teams this summer, both of whom are unbeaten and on course for silverware, 10 wins from 11 matches have been achieved.
