JCT 600 Bradford League first team review June 23 2007

Posted: June 23, 2007

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Champions Woodlands made it 11 wins from 12 matches after skittling out Pudsey St Lawrence for just 79 on route to an emphatic nine-wicket victory at Tofts Road.

They are now 25 points clear at the top of the JCT 600 Bradford League Division One table following second-placed East Bierley's shock nine-run home defeat by bottom team Hanging Heaton.

A third successive league title is looking increasingly likely and once again it was the formidable Woodlands bowling attack which set up their triumph.

Pieter Swanepoel (5-18) was the main destroyer while Tosh Baker (2-18) and Safraz Ahmed (2-20) also exploited the conditions as St Lawrence's severely weakened side was brushed aside.

While St Lawrence took 41 overs to compile their 79, Woodland needed a mere 10.5 overs to knock the runs off. Opener Scott Richardson blazed his way to a 30-ball half-century and finished 53 not out.

East Bierley defeat, their third in four matches, was largely self-induced. They gifted Hanging heaton 53 runs in extras - a total made up of 32 byes, ten leg byes, ten no balls and a wide. It equaled the largest contribution from a Hanging Heaton batsman - the 53 made by James Stansfield - and enabled the visitors to post a challenging 193-8.

Once again left arm spinner Luke Jarvis bowled impressively to take five for 52, but East Bierley left themselves with too much to do. Skipper Gavin Hamilton (45), Tom Owens (34) and Jaffer Nazir (24) tried hard to force the pace but Nick Summerscales (4-40) ensured that they were unable to deny Hanging heaton a much-needed win.

Pudsey Congs moved to within nine points of East Bierley after defeating Bradford & Bingley by six-wickets. Left arm spinner Matthew Doidge took five for 25 and Elliott Wilson (4-21) as Bradford & Bingley were dismissed for just 90. Phil Slater top scored with 32.

Congs eased home thanks to an unbeaten 38 from Andrew Bairstow. Chris Thompson (3-26) was the pick of the Bradford & Bingley bowlers on an afternoon when the Wagon Laners sank to within two points of the relegation positions.

They are level on 100 points with Bowling Old Lane who brought Farsley's three-match winning run to a halt with a 68 run win at Red Lane. Former Farsley player Naheem Ashraf top scored with 61 and overseas Shoaib Khan made 57 as Old Lane posted a challenging score of 220-7. Farsley lost their first three wickets for just two runs and despite the efforts of skipper Ashley Metcalfe (41) and overseas Kaloom Fernando (31) they were bowled out for 152. Amjid Khan bowled impressively to take six for 34.

Old Lane's win enabled them to clamber out of the relegation positions. Idle are now second from bottom after a 44-run loss at Manningham Mills. Opener Amjid Hussain top scored with 41 as Mills were bowled out for 160 by Andrew Marshall (5-42) and Paul Cummins (5-58).

Idle struggled in reply and were dismissed for 116 as Ahsan Butt claimed five for 30 and skipper Mahboob Hussain (3-28)

Brighouse recorded their second successive win to continue to climb to safety.They beat Saltaire by 96 run with skipper Mark Gilliver (64) the lynch pin of their innings of 167-9. Imran Arif was the pick of Saltaire's bowlers with four for 52.

Saltaire's never recovered from losing their first three wickets for just ten runs and were dismissed for a paltry 71. Tim Linley took four for 22 and Dan Dunkerley (4-25).

Inconsistent Cleckheaton produced another woeful batting display. This time they were dismissed for 75 as they suffered a 51-run defeat at Baildon. Spinner Jeremy Batty had a fine game for Baildon making an unbeaten 40 and taking four for 22. Left arm spinner Mushtaq Ahmed was also in the thick of the action taking five for ten as Cleckheaton crumbled.

The curse of the top team struck again in Division Two. Leaders Esholt suffered a 32-run defeat at Morley which enabled Yeadon, six-wicket winners at Lightcliffe, to return to regain the leadership.

The situation is so tight at the top that just eight points separates the top five teams at the halfway point in the promotion race.

Skipper Paul Kinder was the Morley hero. He took six for 29 as Esholt were dismissed for 89 in reply to Morley's modest score of 121-9. The win ended a run of four successive defeats for Morley.

Yeadon were guided to their victory by overseas Aamer Sajjad. He hit an unbeaten 58 - finishing the match with a huge six - and shared in a decisived fourth-wicket stand of 79 with Grant Soames (46).

Yeadon overhauled the Lightcliffe score of 173-7 with eight balls to spare. Opener Andrew Robertson (37) also chipped in with valuable runs.

Lightcliffe had been made to work hard for runs when they batted first. Skipper Richard Nichols (42) was the only man to really master an attack in which Tahir Mehmood (2-20) bowled an impressive 15-over spell.

The most dramatic game was at Gomersal where the home side tied with Great Horton. Victory would have taken Gomersal to the top but the tie means they actually drop from second to fourth.

Richard Gould maintained his recent rich vein of form with an unbeaten 98, while Adam Stott made 50, but even their efforts couldn't quite force victory for Gomersal.

Goimersal finished on 180-5, while Great Horton had earlier made 180-3 with Nasser Chowhery hitting 60 and Talish Butt (58no).

Keighley are the dark horses in the promotion race. They climbed into third place with an easy seven-wicket win over Spen Victoria.They dismissed the league's bottom team for just 95 with Andrew Coppen claiming five for 23 and Greg Kennedy (3-32). Fifteen-year-old Callum Geldart top scored for Spen with 46. Keighley had little trouble reaching their victory target as Matthew Bottomley hit 43.

Skipper Simon Kellett played the lead role in Undercliffe's three-wicket win over Hartshead Moor in a game reduced to 30 overs a side. Kellet took five for 34 as Hartshead Moor were dismissed for 137 and top scored with 36 as his side squeezed home. Once again overseas star Adnan Raees sparkled for Hartshead Moor he made 63.

Bankfoot brought the Windhill revival to a halt. They triumphed by 24 runs thanks to a fine spell of bowling from Nigel Hanson who took six for 34 to dismiss Windhill for 122. Bankfoot were also indebted to batsman Micky Hutchins who made 66 to take his side to 144 all out in the face of good bowling from Daniel Walton (5-51).