BURTON were held to a draw by bottom club Derby Congs 2nds in Division Five South of the Derbyshire County League, but the 20 points gained were enough to confirm their promotion to Division Four.
Their lead at the top of the table is a comfortable 50 points over Winshill and they could very well clinch the title this weekend at Brailsford.
Burton’s dominance in their drawn encounter with Derby Congs came courtesy of two magnificent solo performances.
Muhammad Zaroob confirmed his position as the division’s leading run-scorer with a superb unbeaten innings of 168 — his third century of the campaign — and Kamal Subhani (120) was no less impressive in hitting his second century of the season.
The dominance followed what had been a dreadful start, with both openers back in the pavilion without scoring.
Nasir Khan (27) began the recovery and Zaroob and Subhani did the rest as Burton closed on a mammoth 341-5.
After the break, Kunal Manek (3-36) and Afiq Raza (2-30) confirmed Burton’s superiority, but they were held up by solid defiance from Khalid Mahmood (57no) and Ismail Habib (21).
Late wickets for Zaroob (3-32) brought hope of a Burton victory, but Mahmood hung on and Congs sealed the draw, closing on 143-9.
Second-placed WINSHILL had a much harder day of it against Clifton 2nds but came away with the major spoils — a result which moved them a step closer to securing promotion alongside Burton.
Their main challenge will probably come from Rolleston 2nds, but with a 50- point advantage, and with Melbourne Town and Littleover Centurions having played more matches, they may only need a handful of points from their three remaining games to finish the job.
Victory over Rolleston this weekend would definitely confirm it.
The match against Clifton was a lowscoring affair and Winshill slumped to 28- 3 before Anthony Adams (44) and Chris Colley (31no) engineered a much-needed recovery.
Ed Wilson (4-30) had done the early damage, but Winshill’s fightback took them to a still fairly modest 141-6.
It proved more than enough, however, with Adams (5-13 from 14 overs) and Duncan Wright (2-29) causing problems from the start of Clifton’s reply.
The scoreboard was quickly showing 41- 6, but a recovery of sorts came via the bats of Jack Barker (20) and Keron Pearce (27).
A Winshill victory appeared a formality with the latter two batsmen dismissed, but Wilson and Ed Harvey dug in and Clifton reached safety on a dour 108-8.
ROLLESTON 2NDS came out on top in a drawn match against Melbourne Town after posting a massive 309-7.
Tom Yates cracked 166 and dominated proceedings before tea in superb style. It was his first century of the campaign and took his league run tally for the season past the 600 mark.
He was helped along the way by Richard Bryan (34) and Mark Chalkley (34), and the only threat from Melbourne came in the shape of Matt Briers (3-52) and Alex Slater (3-67), who both returned good figures given the circumstances.
The visitors secured a draw after tea thanks to Mark Rossi’s excellent unbeaten 102 — an innings that successfully thwarted a Rolleston attack headed by Andy Cooper (3-47).
Slater (36) provided the only meaningful support to Rossi as Melbourne ended the day on 217-8.
LULLINGTON PARK 3RDS have not yet banished the threat of relegation following a bad defeat to fellow strugglers Brailsford 2nds.
Only Peter Wright (47) and Keegan Crawford (24) made any headway against the bowling of Kevin Bould (4-54) and Ian Clarke (5-14), and Lullington collapsed to a disappointing 110 all out in 30 overs.
Rob Hodson-Walker (2-14) gave his side hope after tea with two early wickets, but Adam Randall (46no) stood firm and led Brailsford to a seven-wicket win inside 20 overs.
Brailsford’s victory was bad news for ALREWAS 2NDS, amongst others, after they also suffered a damaging defeat at the hands of Aston 2nds.
James Fern (46) and Gareth Woolley (24) began well enough, but Faraz Ali (5-41) was a constant threat and Alrewas had to settle for a total of 197-5, despite a superb knock from Costas Marcou (67no).
Sikander Iqbal (31) and Mohammed Ayub (50) gave Aston a flying start after the break and the home side from then on never loosened their grip.
Woolley (2-33) provided the main threat, but further runs from Tariq Fazal (37no) and Ifran Iqbal (31) sealed Alrewas’s fate.
They remain 11th in the table, with much work to do to avoid the drop.
That hard work must start against Littleover Centurions on Saturday.
Division Six South leaders TUTBURY 2NDS will have to wait another week before they can celebrate either promotion or the title after they were comfortably beaten by promotion-chasing Mickleover 2nds at The Mill.
Jamie Holloway (5-43) and Depak Rana (3-35) dominated the action before tea, with Tutbury dismissed for a modest 176 and only Colin Skitrall (31) and James McCombe (32) making significant progress with the bat.
Tom Rice claimed an early wicket as Mickleover replied, but opener Greg Johnston (30) set the visitors on their way, leaving Holloway (55no) and Keiron Preston (71no) to seal an easy win.
Favourites for promotion alongside Tutbury are TRENTSIDE 2NDS, who consolidated their position in second with a 37- run victory over UTTOXETER.
Adam Cottier (2-86) made for a shaky Trentside opening, but half-centuries from Adam O’Donnell (51) and Mitch Ayling (71) successfully countered the threat posed by Mike Skelham (3-72) and Trentside reached a challenging 271-9.
Early wickets for Carl Southall (2-57) did little for Uttoxeter’s cause in reply, but Tom Hall (67) and Ian Bailey (53no) evened things up.
Eventually, though, the combination of Martin Redfern (3-43) and Sam Shelton (3-44) began to take effect and Uttoxeter’s valiant effort finished on 234 in the 41st over.
The plight of BARTON 2NDS is becoming desperate despite a nine-point haul against Rosehill Methodists 2nds.
A Shamriz Hanif (106no) century saw Rosehill to 237-6 before tea despite three early wickets for Mark Walker (3-68).
Barton also began poorly, but opener Luke Dean (44) and Simon Carfoot (49no) did enough to ensure a small share of the points.
