BURTON secured the Derbyshire County League Division Five South title when they reached 100 against Melbourne Town on Saturday.
In a low scoring match at the Meadows, Burton’s modest 161 all out was good enough to beat a Melbourne side who crashed to 109 all out in reply.
Matt Heafield (4-23) and Alex Slater (4- 45) caused problems throughout Burton’s innings but good contributions from Ishtiaq (44) and Tanveer (31) Kazmi eventually made the difference.
Tanveer claimed 3-32 as Melbourne replied but it was Nasir Khan (6-18) who stole the show.
Melbourne’s reply began well enough but there was nothing to follow after Mark Rossi (39) and Andy Potts (31) were out.
Winshill collected five of the six points they needed to secure the runners-up spot in posting a challenging 273 against Lullington Park 3rds.
Half-centuries early on from Nigel West (66) and Anthony Adams (51) helped overcome a somewhat shaky start but late runs were needed from both Matt Clarke (42) and Phil Jones (36no) to maintain the momentum after Tom Fern (5-52) had held up the middle order.
Winshill had to wait a while to take the two Lullington wickets that would seal promotion following a fine opening stand between Anthony Barnes (49) and Ryan Oliver (64).
Steve Watson (3-43) and Neil Winfield made the necessary breakthroughs but a draw was the best that Winshill were to accomplish, with Richard Jones (27no) providing further resistance.
The home side eventually closed on a distant 179-4 and ended the day needing just a single point from their final fixture to secure their Division Five status.
Winshill’s haul of 17 points meant that Rolleston 2nds could only finish as high as third place and they made some progress towards that end with a narrow winning draw against relegation-threatened Rolls Royce Leisure 2nds.
It was a struggle early on for Rolleston but they eventually made some meaningful progress through Alex Brown (27) but it was left to Ian Wakefield (42) and Anton Williams (54no) to finally see Rolleston to a defendable 193-7.
They claimed early wickets after tea but Royces responded through Vasif Ali (75) and Malc Mason (43) until John Thomson (4-37) and Williams (2-47) restored Rolleston’s advantage.
The Royces tail battled on but they came up short on 173-8.
Also scrapping for points on Saturday were Alrewas 2nds, but their match against Clifton 2nds had to be abandoned with 12 overs still to be bowled.
Alrewas were struggling at the close, however, with Clifton (119-0) bearing down on their disappointing 159 all out.
Alrewas had earlier been grateful to Josh Jones (91), who alone fended off the excellent Will Wilson (4-20).
Wilson (50no) and Liam Brewell (58no) were on their way to sealing a muchneeded win for Clifton until rain intervened.
The result left Alrewas needing 16 points on the final Sunday to avoid the drop and they duly obliged, taking 18 points against Rolleston 2nds.
Jones (49) again batted well and combined well early on with James Fern (61).
Their work enabled Alrewas to post 214- 6 and this proved more than enough to earn the necessary points.
Rolleston were off colour in reply, with only Williams (68) making much headway against the excellent bowling of Mark Butler (5-35).
Rolleston did, however, garner enough points to overhaul Melbourne and end the season in third place.
Lullington Park 3rds were second best to Rolls Royce Leisure 2nds in their final match but comfortably avoided relegation.
The final day top-of-the-table clash went Burton’s way as they clawed their way past Winshill’s 177 all out with only one wicket in hand.
Winshill had managed to recover from a dire 12-3 thanks to Adams (73) after Afiq Raza (4-51) and Muhammad Zaroob (3- 45) had threatened a short afternoon’s entertainment.
Nigel West (5-26) almost spun Winshill to victory after the break but Zaroob (62) and Kamal Subhani (51) did just enough for the champions, who finished 78 points clear at the top.
