RAIN had a terminal effect on three games in division four with the matches at Acomb, Dringhouses and Sheriff Hutton all falling foul of the elements.

Osbaldwick batted first at Acomb but were not able to post a large score as James Byford (4-54) and Tim Merrick (4-23) restricted them to 132-8. Andy Hall top scored with 32, while Nigel Rippon added 30. However, the weather ended the contest at tea-time leaving the two sides level pegging with each having 209 points with four victories as they hover a mere ten points above a relegation berth.

As the two teams are 90 points ahead of bottom placed Dringhouses with only three games to go, Dringy have no realistic chance of avoiding relegation and will be rueing being denied a possible victory at the expense of Selby who, themselves, are in a relegation spot.

In a game reduced to 32 overs, Selby had completed their innings with a score of 126-3 and were no doubt viewing the second half of the game with some trepidation.

The Selby club need to lift themselves up the table since relegation into division five would require the club's second X1 to be similarly demoted and the third-placed side in division six promoted in their place.

Bolton Percy kept on track for divisional honours with a seven-wicket victory at Sheriff Hutton Bridge. Martin Pears struck an early blow for Bolton when he removed Bridge's leading batsman Vic Klays for a duck.

Pip Malloch (3-26) then grabbed three wickets as the hosts slipped to 41-4. Skipper Dave Ellis 25 and Graham Oxley 23 raised home hopes but Pears (3-40) then combined with Aussie Chris Hill to sweep away the remaining batting with Hill claiming 4-17 as Bridge were all out for 85.

Bolton lost two early wickets for just 14 runs before Peter Houseman crashed a quickfire 57no as Percy sailed to victory.

There was a cascade of wickets at Pickering where the home side kept on course for a successive promotion at the expense of relegation candidates Huntington despite being rolled over for 96.

Pickering had made a somewhat sedate start of 24-0 in 11 overs when a rainstorm eventually reduced the game to a 30 over per side affair. This necessitated some high risk batting from the home side which assisted the Huntington old firm of Steve Beales (5-42) and Wally Baynes (4-52).

Their efforts had Pickering all out for 96 with credit going to Phil Rivil 31 and Ian Johnson 24. Huntington then found conditions favouring the bowlers. Len Watson resisted with 32 but went past 50 wickets for the season as he and Ian Johnson shared out the spoils equally. Evans' five wickets cost 20 runs, while Johnson's equivalent reward cost 23 runs as Huntington were dismissed for 72.

Huby virtually ended Easingwold's hopes of promotion with victory at Easingwold and condemned both teams to mid-table rankings.

Trevor Smith (57) hit a half century in a home score of 123 as Hugh Sheddon (3-38) and John Robinson (3-11) received good support from Tom Piercy who grabbed three catches and was responsible for a run-out dismissal. Piercy then hit 67 as Huby ran out victors by five wickets.

Updated: 08:35 Tuesday, August 27, 2002