KEIGHLEY have been dumped back into the Gordon Rigg Bradford Premier League Division Two drop zone after a ghastly 157-run defeat at neighbours and leaders Crossflatts on Saturday.

With four games to go, they are second-bottom, eight points ahead of basement boys Hopton Mills and behind Heckmondwike & Carlinghow on net run rate only.

They therefore have a realistic chance of survival, with only the bottom two going down to Division Three, but they cannot afford many more performances like the one they produced at the weekend.

Batting first, Flatts moved to 85 without loss thanks to opening pair Dom Bennett (33) and Nathan Bradbury (42).

But Keighley spinner Daanyaal Ahmed took four quick wickets, with those and the run out of Bennett seeing the hosts collapse to 119-5.

The visitors failed to take advantage of putting themselves in a strong position, with all of the lower order chipping in with runs, including a quick 30 from Nadeem Safdar.

The last two wickets put on 69 between them, as Crossflatts recovered to post a challenging 252-9 at the end of their 50 overs.

Ahmed’s 4-43 had given his team-mates a chance, but they got nowhere near chasing that total down in a dreadful reply.

Azhar Mehmood had made a crucial 30 in the Crossflatts middle order after their wobble, and he backed that up with 3-27 when Keighley batted.

He was supported superbly by Sanjul Bandara, who claimed 4-21 as the visitors were bundled out for just 95.

Lucas Keslinke was the only batsman to make any sort of impression, scoring 40 from 49 balls in a losing cause.