Carlisle took another step towards retaining their Cumbria League Premier Division title when they beat Haverigg by 46 runs at Edenside.
But for part of the game a huge shock looked on the cards as bottom-of-the table Haverigg looked to be in very good positions.
Carlisle had won the toss and decided to bat fist but within the first 10 overs found themselves 19-3 thanks to a fine spell of opening bowling from Robbie Evans and 15-year-old Zac Mawdsley.
Then at 63-7 an upset definitely looked to be on the cards before two of the Carlisle bowlers Chris Blyth and Fraser Conn put on a match winning stand of 66.
Blyth, in particular, struck the ball beautifully in his innings of 58 not out as the Carlisle innings closed on 161-9.
Haverigg started their chase in a composed fashion with captain Drew Postlethwaite and professional Umar Waheed putting on 41 for the first wicket and at 75 for 1 Haverigg were going really well.
Then enter young left arm spinner Johnny Westgarth and at the end of his ten overs he had the remarkable figures of 7-20 including a triple wicket maiden.
Haverigg’s innings closed on 115 all out and the Carlisle performance showed why they are favourites to retain their title, but Haverigg will take real heart from this really spirited performance.
As it stands Carlisle lead the way 14 points clear of Furness and if they win next week’s home game with Workington will be crowned champions ahead of their final game at Keswick.
As for Haverigg they are still bottom but just a point behind Lindal Moor and the two meet next Saturday at Lindal.
Furness played their part in taking the title fight on another week when they beat Egremont by 101 runs.
Professional Yash Dubey led the way for Furness with 75 and support from Mark Daly (35no), Bradley Chapples (34) and Nathan Waterston (29) took them to 235 all out off 49.3 overs. Sub pro Ateeq Javid took 4-35 for Egremont.
Ateeq also did his bit with the bat, top-scoring on 68 when Egremont were bowled out for 134 in 40 overs. Faizan Ghumman took 3-24 for Furness.
Cockermouth moved into third place with a big win over struggling Lindal Moor as Workington lost heavily at home to Keswick.
There were runs at the top of the Cockermouth order from Gareth White (47), Sam Sharp (47), Sam Scully (36), Alex Grainger (31) and Tom Norman 24no as the Sandair side made 239-5.
Lindal seemed to be making a fight of it at 66-2 but they slumped to 117 all out with left arm spinner Matthew Siddall doing best with the ball for Cockermouth taking 3-13.
Cockermouth moved past Workington after they lost at home to Keswick by 120 runs.
Keswick had been put in to bat and the innings could have gone either way when Ben Sharp (27) was dismissed at 80-4 but Paul Hindmarch and Glen Weightman put on 147 for the fifth wicket.
That ended when Hindmarch was out for 61 from 74 balls but Weightman went on to make a superb 100 not out, completing the ton off the last ball of the innings. He faced 124 balls and hit eight fours and two sixes.
Keswick had reached an admirable 244-5 with home skipper Matt Lowden (2-42) the most successful Workington bowler.
Workington made a steady start until they reached 58-1 when a return catch from Jake Daniel was spilled by Dan Gaskell, but the ball dropped onto the wicket and Davis Mills was out of his ground and he was run out for 17.
Daniel went for 28 soon after and this quickly became 65-6. Some late runs took them to 124 all out in 38.4 overs with Hindmarch (3-13) and Gaskell (3-24) the most successful Keswick bowlers.
The spectre of a first-ever relegation has now disappeared for Cleator as they won the Copeland derby with Whitehaven by 61 runs.
Put in to bat Cleator would be well-satisfied with their total of 265-5 in their 50 overs. It was boosted by a third wicket stand of 114 between Tom Sharpe (96) and sub pro Supeshala Jayalithake (78no).
Whitehaven pro Terance Warde (45), skipper Stephen Holliday (26) and Josh Foster (25no) led the response but they were bowled-out for 204 in 47.1 overs. Jayalithake completed a good match for Cleator by taking 4-34.
Jayalalithake was signed by Cleator for two seasons but unfortunately the second was during Covid and he is currently pro for Drumpellier in Scotland.
Another sub pro who did the business was Millom’s Chirag Khurama, helping them to a four wicket win in a low-scoring game at Wigton.
He took 5-20 in 9.1 overs after Wigton had been put in to bat and were bowled-out in 31.1 overs for 93. John Reed top-scored with 31 off 33 balls.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Millom but they eventually reached 95-6 off 24.1 overs with Tom Wilkinson (27) their top scorer.
*Furness meet Cockermouth today at Haverigg in the final of the Higson Cup.
