Cricket Round-up: After a brief stumble, North County have widened the gap at the top of the WM League Section A with a 49-run win over The Hills on Saturday. And to make it a great weekend for the leaders, their nearest rivals Clontarf lost at home yesterday, making it all but certain County will retain the title.

They lost last Thursday to Rush but Andre Botha hit a fine 108 not out on Saturday, helping his side to 256 for 9 off their 50 overs, a total that is really no better than par on what is a good batting track at Inch. And at one stage it looked like The Hills would do Clontarf a favour, with Michael Lax smashing it to all parts of the small ground early on. But when he was out for 59, the middle order was unable to maintain his momentum and the North County bowlers got on top.

John Mooney took four wickets and there were two apiece for Paul Mooney and Reinhardt Strydom.

Then yesterday, Clontarf needed a win to keep the pressure on County but, batting first, they only managed 191 off 50 overs in Castle Avenue. Ireland under-19s player Andrew Poynter top scored with 52 and Ronan O'Reilly hit 48 but that score of less than four an over was never likely to trouble a side with Rush's depth in batting. In the end, Rush only got to their target with four wickets and 16 balls to spare but Naseer Shoukat saw his side home with an unbeaten 76.

Elsewhere, it was a horrid weekend for YMCA, who suffered two heavy defeats and put themselves deep into relegation territory. In disappointing fashion, they lost to Malahide on Saturday and The Hills yesterday (both of whom were also relegation candidates) meaning the Claremont Road side are the most likely club to face the drop along with Phoenix, who look all but condemned at this stage.

In Section B, Railway Union have established an almost unassailable lead at the top after beating Old Belvedere by 10 wickets on Saturday and a fourwicket defeat of Merrion yesterday. With two games remaining, they can plan for life in Section A next season, although their eyes will be on Friday's Irish Senior Cup final when they will play Rush at Castle Avenue in an all-Leinster affair.

• Former West Indies batting great Clyde Walcott died in Barbados aged 80, on Saturday. Walcott, one of the three "Ws" in West Indies cricket with Frank Worrell and Everton Weeks, played 44 Tests in his 12-year career from 1948, scoring 3,798 runs at an average of 56.68, including 15 centuries. The Barbados player went on to become the chairman of the International Cricket Council in the 1990s.