Champion display as York clinch a hat-trick of titles (From York Press)

Champion display as York clinch a hat-trick of titles

8:14am Monday 7th September 2009 in

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YORK Cricket Club secured a hat-trick of Oxbridge Yorkshire ECB County Premier League titles in emphatic fashion with a seven-wicket win over rivals Yorkshire Academy.

The Clifton Parkers needed to take six points from an incomplete win to seal the championship with one fixture to spare – and they duly obliged.

Academy skipper John Blain won the toss and chose to bat in a game reduced to 38 overs by rain.

Openers Joe Root and Gary Ballance put on 37 before Tom Bartram took two wickets in successive overs.

Neil Laidlaw then bagged wickets in successive overs, before Jack Hughes and Ballance put on 38 runs in 40 minutes.

Ballance was caught by Alex Collins off Bartram, for 39 and Blain was run out without scoring.

Hughes made 31 and the Academy’s final score was 158-9, with Bartram taking 3-55 in 15 overs and Laidlaw returning 2-33 in 11 overs.

In reply, Dan Wilson and Duncan Snell had 71 runs on the board by the 18th over, when Wilson was bowled by Azeem Rafiq for 38.

Simon Mason helped Snell add 43 in half an hour before he was caught for 17.

Alex Collins also went cheaply and York still needed 36 to win when Nick Kay joined Snell. They saw York to victory in the 36th over, when Kay hit Rafiq for a straight six.

In the previous over Snell hit a six to take his score to 79 not, completing 1,000 league runs for the season.

York will round off their league campaign at Cleethorpes on Saturday, with League Cup and Yorkshire Champions Trophy honours also in their sights.