ON A day when ENCO Halifax League Premier Division skippers invariably won the toss and chose to bowl, Thornton lost their top five for just 76 at Bradshaw.

However, Nikki Hutchinson (32) led a mini revival and the tail-wagged a little to take the score to 163, with four bowlers sharing the wickets.

Those later runs proved vital as Bradshaw fell for 120, and to even reach that score it required a cameo of 40 from No 9 Amjid Azam as Ross Parr took 5-35.

Daniel Cole (68) was instrumental in ensuring that Shelf Northowram Hedge Top set some sort of target for hosts Oxenhope with a total of 147 all out, four home bowlers sharing the wickets.

In reply, Oxenhope looked in deep trouble at 49-5 as Harry Talbot (4-46) took four wickets. However, Joel Fothergill (54) and Will Rankin (29no) came to the rescue with a sixth-wicket partnership of 84.

The former was caught out to make it 133-6, but the home team reached a winning 148-6 in the 39th over and, in the process, took over top spot.

In the First Division, Great Horton Park Chapel maintained their 100 per cent record as they took maximum points for the fifth time, dispatching Greetland at The Holme.

The hosts were sent in but only lasted until the 28th over, by which time they were all out for 66, Horton only requiring two bowlers - Adam Beesley (6-29) and Daniel Gill (4-34).

The table-toppers had a bout of nerves from 49-1 to 66-5, but reached a winning 67-5 a few balls later.

Upper Hopton were asked to bat at Low Moor Holy Trinity and proceeded slowly, losing wickets at regular intervals, after starting badly at 2-1.

Stuart Fenton (6-31) was the fourth Trinity bowler used but he was the key to Hopton failing to reach three figures at 92 all out in the 41st over.

However, that score proved 24 too many for Trinity, who collapsed to 68 all out in 42.5 overs, one batter taking 55 balls and 72 minutes to score only seven.

Five Hopton bowlers took wickets as they stayed in second place, nine points behind Horton.

Third-placed Clayton cruised to a nine-wicket over Blackley.

Inserted, the visitors struggled to reach 122, with Andrew Deegan (5-34) being in the wickets again as only four batters showed any kind of form.

The hosts required less than 19 overs to reach a winning 127-1 with David Paynter (53no), Scott Etherington (40) and Michael Nicholson (32no) the only batters required.

All the home teams in the Second Division batted first, with early scorecards showing much better starts than the top two divisions.

The exception was Mount, strangely the only team opting to take first knock, and their match against Bradley & Colnebridge provided some very odd statistics.

It lasted only 51 overs, just 100 runs were scored and 18 wickets fell.

Mount were bowled out for 48, losing their last nine wickets for only 18 as Khalil Khan took 6-12.

In reply, at 32-2, B&C appeared to be cruising to 12 points, but they too had a shutter of wickets, losing six for 13 runs and stumbled over the line with 52-8, Ismail Mayat taking 4-17.

Leaders Sowerby St Peter’s retained top spot, having dropped only a single point from a maximum of 60.

At home to Oakworth, they scored 153 all out, after being asked to bat, skipper Aiden Green leading the way with 47, although they had to be worked hard for on a tricky surface, which Tom Fothergill exploited with 4-66.

After the visitors reached 40-1, the remaining nine wickets fell for a meagre 57, St Peter’s winning by 56 runs. Spencer Harris was the top wicket-taker with 4-31.

Queensbury posted 202-7 in their home match against Cullingworth, No 5 Michael Davies taking the plaudits with 87 not out, helped by three contributions in the twenties.

The visitors carefully crafted a response of 205-3, timing the win to perfection after 44 overs.

Openers Michael Dennison (75) and Scott Pearson (70) had a brilliant partnership of 157, and then Bilal Khadid chipped in with 35 not out to seal victory.