South Manchester Maccabi retained the NJCL crown for the third consecutive season after easing to a nine-wicket victory in the title-decider against Manchester Maccabi.

Fresh from their victory at the NJCL Twenty20 last week, South skipper Steven Glicher had no hesitation in putting Maccabi into bat.

The decision paid dividends as Maccabi had no answer to the pace of Akiva Lieberman (3-11) and the guile of David Glick (4-13).

Wickets fell regularly with only Avi Barr (15) putting up any resistance. Lieberman capped an excellent performance with a stunning full-length diving catch to dismiss Doyle.

Jonathan Lieberman (2-2) and Avrom Topperman wrapped up the innings as Maccabi crawled to 39.

South encountered no real problems knocking off the runs as Shaya Rabinovitz and the ever-improving Dovid Black reached the target for the loss of one wicket as they completed the double.

A 25-point haul ensured that South kept hold of the trophy against a Maccabi side who have tailed off badly following an impressive start.

Commenting on the title success, Glicher said: "It was very much a team performance. Everyone has contributed and it's nice to have a clean sweep this year."

A treble is still on the cards for South who host Belmont & Edgware in the semi-finals of the Maccabi Cricket National Knockout Cup on August 8.

Glicher said: "We recognise that this will be a very tough game and we'll do our best to give them a good game."

The race for the runners-up is hotting up after Salford claimed a 50-run victory over Leeds Maccabi.

Simon Williams (92) and Daniel Goldsbrough (88) helped Salford finish the first innings on 220-4. Key contributions from Daniel Paul (54), Elliot Koffman (45) kept Salford in the game but they fell short.