Posted: July 14, 2007

 

 

Champions Woodlands took another step towards their aim of a third successive JCT 600 Bradford League Division One title as they defeated third-placed Pudsey Congs to extend their lead at the top to 26 points.

Woodlands had to dig deep for their 13th win in 15 matches and the man they owe a huge debt to is Chris Brice.

A few eyebrows were raised when his name appeared at the top of the half-season batting averages, but few who saw his battling 68 which steered Woodlands from a perilous 64-5 to a total of 218 all out will doubt his right to occupy that position.

Brice showed patience, application and determination to revive his side with help from Adam Goldthorpe (34) and Safraz Ahmed (26) as Woodlands snatched the initiative away from Congs after Tom Glover (4-50) had cashed in on some indifferent batting from Woodlands' top order.

Congs knew that they needed a good start if they were to challenge Woodlands' total, but they didn't get it. They plunged to nine for three and 36-5 before Derbyshire player Hassan Adnan with a patient 42, and Andrew Bourke (59) shared a sixth wicket stand of 83.

It was Bourke's highest Bradford League score but despite his crisp strokeplay, Congs finished on 151-7, well short of their target as Safraz Ahmed (3-37) and Pieter Swanepoel (2-16) ensured another win for Woodlands.

Second-placed East Bierley defeated Baildon by three wickets in a match reduced to 33 overs a side. Baildon, despite 42 from Tabi Bhatti, made a disappointing 105-9 as Paul Hutchison took four for 40.

Gharib Razak (44) and Lee Goddard (22) gave Bierley a good start but wickets fell in the pursuit of quick runs as Craig Hitchenor picked up three for 36. East Bierley finally edged home with 14 balls to spare to collect 14 points.

It's all change at the bottom with idle slipping to the foot of the table after a crushing eight-wicket defeat by the side who started the day in 14th place, Bradford & Bingley.

Idle paid dearly for a woeful batting display. After plunging to five for five they never really recovered and were dismissed for 71. Loku Dilhara, who has been named in Sri Lanka's squad for the initial Twenty/20 World Cup, top scored with 37 not out as Richard McCarthy (5-29) and Ethi Mbhalati (4-11) skittled out his colleagues. Bradford & Bingley cruised to their victory target and have climbed to 11th in the table.

Bowling Old Lane slipped into the relegation positions when they suffered a seven-wicket loss against Pudsey St Lawrence. Despite the efforts of Tahir Khan (51) and Naheem Ashraf (35), Bowling Old Lane were dismissed for 156 as Gareth Clough (4-41) and James Smith (4-42) posed problems. St Lawrence eased to a welcome victory with Australian Tom Stray making an unbeaten half-century.

Old Lane are just four points ahead of Idle and a similar margin separates them from 12th place Hanging Heaton who suffered a 78-run defeat against Cleckheaton. Left arm opening bowler Craig Wiseman took five for 39 and Ian Wardlaw (3-29) as Hanging Heaton were dismissed for 118 in response to Cleckheaton's score of 196-8. Openers John Wood (45) and Michael Nicholson (43) were the top scorers for Cleckheaton in a total of 196-8.

Farsley are hovering just nine points above the relegation places after a 24-run reverse at home to Saltaire. Sri Lankan Kallum Fernando made a determined 77 not out but could not spare his side from defeat as Imran Arif picked up six for 28 in a fine spell of bowling for Saltaire. New overseas player Masood Asam Butt is quickly finding his feet for Saltaire. He opened the batting and made top score of 62 in their total of 178-9. Ashley Metcalfe was the pick of the Farsley bowlers with five for 26.

Manningham Mills recorded their seventh win of the season when they beat Brighouse by 45 runs in a 32 overs a side contest. Muenoddin Kadri top scored with 55 as Mills made 127-8, then Ahsan Butt picked up four for 24 as Brighouse were dismissed for 84. Skipper Mark Gilliver was again the top scorer with 35.

Yeadon maintained their position at the top of Division Two with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Hartshead Moor. Overseas batsman Aamer Sajjad maintained his good run of form by making an unbeaten 68 as Yeadon cruised past the Hartshead Moor score of 144. Spinners Grant Soames (4-20) and Saif Malik (4-33) were the main destroyers as Hartshead Moor crumbled to 144 all out after a promising start from openers Adnan Raees (62) and Craig Field (30).

Gomersal remain just five points behind in second place after defeating Esholt by two wickets. Richard Gould made 70 and Umar Salim (32) as Gomersal overcame an attack of the jitters to secure a crucial win. Shazaib Khan had a fine match for Esholt top scoring with 79 in their innings of 173 and taking three for 51.

Morley are three points further back in third place after an easy seven-wicket win at Windhill. They bowled out the home side for 114 with skipper Paul Kinder taking three for 27 and james Russell (3-29) and knocked off the runs with Shoaib Khan making 37.

Keighley's promotion hopes suffered a body blow when they suffered an 81-run loss against Keighley. Lightcliffe's Jonathan Wilson stroked an unbeaten 107 which contained two sixes and ten fours. His score enabled Lightcliffe to post a total of 186 which Keighley never looked like matching as they collapsed to the spin of Dean Heyhoe (6-14).

Undercliffe started the season with high hopes of promotion but another season in Division Two is seemingly inevitable after their 73-run defeat against Spen Victoria. The result enabled Spen to climb off the bottom and it gave them fresh heart in their bid to avoid re-election.

Chris Elstub (47) and Matthew Speck (45) helped Spen post a score of 195-6, then young Joel Pollard (4-31) and Elstub (3-25) bowled their side to victory. Darren Blenkiron top scored with 50 not out in Undercliffe's disappointing score of 122 all out.

Great Horton tied for the second time this season. On this occasion their opponents were Bankfoot.

Great Horton recovered from 33-6 chasing Bankfoot's 148-8 through a fine innings of 76 from Nasser Hussain, but they were all out for 148 as Nigel Hanson took five for 35 and Yorkshire's James Lee (4-32). Hanson had earlier top scored with 26 not out in Bankfoot's innings.