JCT 600 Bradford League First teams review June 2

Posted: June 2, 2007

Picture Gallery - Baildon v Pudsey St Lawrence ............>> Click here

It was a day of centuries, tight finishes and a hat-trick as the action proved to be as hot as the glorious sunny weather which greeted today's action in the JCT 600 Bradford League.

The day's highest individual score was a sizzling 152 by Pudsey Congs' new overseas batsman Afaq Raheem, while Mark Robertshaw (Pudsey St Lawrence), Tim Orrell (Woodlands), Richard Gould (Gomersal), Aamer Sajjad (Yeadon) all recorded centuries.

The hat-trick was performed by Manningham Mills' opening bowlers Gamal Hussain against Bradford & Bingley.

As expected there was little drama in the day's top game as leaders East Bierley defeated bottom team Farsley by 73 runs. East Bierley built up a challenging score of 259-8 with Andrew Rennison (52), Gharib Razak (46), Lee Goddard (45) and Gavin Hamilton (35) providing the bulk of the runs. Jan Gadzina (5-59) was the best of the Farsley bowlers.

Left arm spinner Luke Jarvis took his best Bradford League figures of six for 57 as Farsley were dismissed for 186. The bulk of their runs came while skipper Ashley Metcalfe (62) and overseas professional Kaloom Fernando (47) were at the wicket.

The victory earned East Bierley a maximum points and enabled them to extend their lead to nine points over Woodlands, while Farsley are now ten points adrift at the bottom.

Champions Woodlands remain the only unbeaten team but they made to fight hard for their 19-run success against Hanging Heaton which earned them 18 points.

A close game seemed unlikely when Woodlands powered to 292-7 with their skipper Tim Orrell making a fine 108. Orrell struck four sixes and ten fours and was well supported by Tosh Baker who continued his good form with a knock of 61.

Hanging Heaton made a bold reply and thanks to the efforts of Thilan Thushara (49), Alan Mynett (40no) and Zac Morris (40) they made 273-7 . The normally economical Chris Brice came in for some punishment as his figures of two for 93 from 15 overs indicates.

Pudsey St Lawrence moved up to third after collecting 20 points from a thrilling 14-run win over Baildon who drop to fourth as a result.

The star of the show was St Lawrence all-rounder James Smith. He blasted an unbeaten 94 off just 55 balls with eight sixes and fours fours as St Lawrence made 255-2. Then he took five for 80 as Baildon were dismissed for 241.

Smith's fireworks took the limelight away from left-handed opener Mark Robertshaw who followed up his 139 against Farsley last Saturday with 103 not out. Robertshaw again batted maturely and stroked three sixes and eight fours.

Baildon could have done with the services of Yorkshire and England opening bowler Matthew Hoggard who was reduced to the role of spectator when his hopes of making a comeback appearance for the Jenny Laners was ruled out when he suffered a setback in his bid to recover from a groin injury.

Hoggard would have been impressed with the performance of his brother-in-law Matthew Duce whose aggressive 78 set up a nail-biting finish. Duce hit two sixes and nine fours and was joined in a fourth-wicket stand of 113 by Simon Webb (37). Once they departed skipper Ian Philliskirk struck out boldly for 33, but St Lawrence held their nerve and, more importantly, held their catches to secure the win.

The tightest finish of the day was at Bowling Old lane where Cleckheaton triumphed by two runs. Cleckheaton, who have already lost two last-ball finishes at Manningham Mills and Farsley, will be relieved to have won this time.

Their success owed much to a last-wicket stand of 51 between Dean Worrell (32) and Craig Wiseman (32no) which swelled the Cleckheaton score to 155 all out. Before their heroics only skipper John Wood ((34) made an impression as Amjid Khan (5-49) and Zubair Najeeb (3-20) posed problems.

Old Lane looked likely winners while opener Tahir Khan was at the wicket. He made a determined 61, but after he departed at 102 for five the batting crumbled. Hard-hitting Bilal Ejaz (33) put his side back in the hunt but was run out with one ball remaining to confirm Cleckheaton's win. Spinner Mohammad Zaman (3-32) was the most successful bowler but Ian Wood's 15 overs spell of one for 27 did much to peg back Old Lane.

Manningham Mills paceman Gamal Hussain won't forget his side's 131-run win at Bradford & Bingley in a hurry. He took a hat-trick as the home side were dismissed for just 48. Hussain had Scott Etherington caught by Mohammad Said then clean bowled both David Clow and Mark Beckett.

At one stage Bradford & Bingley were seven for six and it was only due to 26 from Richard McCarthy that they reached 48. Hussain finished with five for 12.

Manningham Mills had also experienced early difficulties in their innings but from 90-8 they were revived by Nasser Jamal; (37no) and Mohammad Said (36) as a total of 179-9 was posted. Chris Thompson picked up three for 35 from Bradford & Bingley.

Swing bowler Andrew Marshall took five for 21 as Idle shot out Brighouse for 116 on their way to a four-wicket win. Javed Umarji hit 48 as Idle edged their way to a much-needed win.

Pudsey Congs posted the highest team total of the day. They made 305-9 against Saltaire thanks almost exclusively to their Pakistani opener Afaq Raheem. His stroked three sixes and 22 fours in a splendid innings of 152. Andrew Bairstow weighed in with a lively 58. Gulsheraz Ahmed picked up five for 58 and was Saltaire's most successful bowler.

Saltaire made a spirited reply. Fawad Maqsood (68), Gulsheraz Ahmed (57) and Wasim Munawar (46) all made useful scores but nobody went on to make the big score they needed. Congs eventually won by 80 runs with left arm spinner Glenn Roberts (3-44) claiming the wicket of Saltaire skipper Ijaz Khan, caught by Raheem, off the final ball of the game to secure maximum points.

Yeadon are the new leaders of Division Two. A week ago they were 21 points adrift of Morley but now they are two points clear at the top following their 90-run win over Bankfoot which enabled them to cash in on Morley's surprise four-run defeat by lowly Spen Victoria.

Overseas star Aamer Sajjad was their match-winner making an unbeaten 101 against the club he made his Bradford League bow with in 2005. Sajjad struck two sixes and 13 fours as he dominated his side's innings of 206-8.

Bankfoot were always struggling in reply and even the defiance of skipper Robert Ellis (37) couldn't spare them from defeat. Yeadon collected 19 points for their triumph and that was sufficient to allow them to take top spot for the first time this season.

Morley, who had tasted defeat for the first time in the league this season at Yeadon on Monday, found Spen Victoria in determined mood. The visitors were in trouble at 5-2 before overseas Adnan Raza Ali (90) and Chris Elstub (31) revived their side. Raza stroked two sixes and 12 fours and his efforts enabled Spen Victoria to reach 201-8. Former Spen opening bowler James Russell (3-44) and off spinner Steve Lane (3-48) were the pick of Morley's bowlers.

Morley's innings was again dominated by their overseas batsman Shoaib Khan. He cruised to 78 before being one of three victims of left arm spinner Nick Robinson (3-64). Once he departed Morley were unable to keep up with the required run rate and finished four runs short on 197-8.

It was also a bad day for Esholt who had started the day in second place. They must have fancied their chances when Nadeem Hanif took five for 21 as Keighley were dismissed for just 134, but they were skittled out for just 59 in reply to lose by 75 runs. Ross Towler (6-20) and Greg Kennedy (4-32) did the damage. Keighley's Stuart Ratcliffe (41) was the top scorer in the match.

Bottom-team Lightcliffe, fresh from their first win of the season over Undercliffe, gave Gomersal a scare before going down by just six runs. Promotion-chasing Gomersal made 250-4 with Richard Gould (106) making his second century in successive weeks. Gould, whose innings contained two sixes and 15 fours, shared a second-wicket stand of 118 with Bradley Parker (74). Umar Salim weighed in with an unbeaten 53.

Lightcliffe's reply was built around a fine knock of 73 from their skipper Richard Nichols, but wickets tumbled around him and Lightcliffe were eventually dismissed for 244. New Zealander Garrick Sutherland finished with five for 71.

Inconsistent Great Horton were dismissed for just 107 as Hartshead Moor secured a three-wicket win. Daniel Squires took four for 12 as Great Horton's wickets tumbled. Iqbal Khan top scored with 34.

Hartshead Moor had overseas Adnan Raees (47) to thank for guiding them to their target. Kashif Naveed picked three for 25 for Great Horton.

Opening bowler Imran Amin took five for 39 as Undercliffe defeated Windhill by seven-wickets. Windhill were dismissed for 192 with Maz Bhatti (41) and Luke Holroyd (40) the main contributors.

Undercliffe were guided to their target by opener Ben Heritage who made 68and received support fromDarren Blenkiron (33).