ON A day when it rained boundaries, Pudsey St Lawrence were only one more lusty blow away from victory in the JCT600 Bradford League Twenty20 final on their home ground.

They needed 12 off the final two balls at Tofts Road to beat deadly rivals Pudsey Congs but Richie Lamb was caught by Nick Lindley at mid-wicket.

That rendered the injured Craig Wiseman's straight six from the last delivery relatively meaningless as the run tally for the three matches reached an impressive 1,138, Wiseman's six being the 51st and last of the day.

By far the biggest slice of that aggregate came in the final where holders Congs posted 231-6, Saints replying with 226-7 as their neighbours became the first side to win the competition three times (they also triumphed in 2012).

The opening semi-final was no slouch either, with St Lawrence overcoming Woodlands' 203-4 with two balls to spare (remember the days when that was a god score from 40 overs?), while Congs overhauling Hanging Heaton's 135 with two and a half overs remaining was relatively sedate.

Delighted Congs skipper Gareth Phillips said: "They key over was the 18th, bowled by me which only went for eight and we dismissed Jim Smith.

"It is a batsman's game, so I agree that the side which is going to win is the one which bowls the best."

If getting Smith, who made 51 before holing out to long off, out was a key moment, then so was the earlier dismissal of wicketkeeper Matthew Duce to break a partnership of 103 with Smith for the third wicket.

Duce favoured the mid-wicket boundary towards the houses as the duo kept pace with the 12 runs an over that were needed. But he edged behind off Josh Holling for an 80 that was only bettered by the 88 off 43 deliveries scored by Adam Patel for Congs in a stand of 95 with Callum Geldart (45 off 17 balls).

Josh Wilson went for 19 in the first over of the innings, Joe Greaves then weighing in with an unbeaten 59 in the middle order.

James Pearson, Mustafa Rafique, Kez Ahmed and Holling were able to exert just enough control to give Congs victory to counter-balance the efforts of Wiseman, Mark Robertshaw and Joshua Smith before the interval.

The biggest stand of the day came in the first semi-final, Logan Weston (75) and skipper Pieter Swanepoel (63no) adding 137 for Woodlands' third wicket, Wiseman again impressing with his accuracy by conceding a miserly 21 runs from his four overs.

Robertshaw (69) and Goldthorp (31) got St Lawrence off to a solid start with a partnership of 73 before Smith's 50 helped them home in a tight finish, Scott Richardson taking 3-26.

The ball was on top in the second semi-final where Geldart's 42 was the top score, with Gary Fellows (39) and Joshua Shaw (33) having done best earlier for Hanging Heaton against the wiles of Ahmed (4-24) and Phillips (2-22).

Ian Philliskirk (2-22) and David Stiff (2-28) then impressed with the ball for the Batley side.