JCT 600 Bradford League first teams review June 9, 2007

Posted: Jun 10, 2007

East Bierley v Pudsey Congs Picture gallery........>>Click here

Champions Woodlands sit on top of the JCT 600 Bradford League Division One for the first time this season following a dramatic day which produced exciting finishes at both ends of the table.

Woodlands, chasing a third successive league title, defeated Baildon by 95 runs and leap-frogged over East Bierley who went down by two runs in a thriller against Pudsey Congs who are now third.

At the other end of the table the bottom three all won with Bowling Old Lane defeating Idle, Hanging Heaton defeating Brighouse and Farsley gaining a 20 point maximum haul after capturing the last wicket with the final ball of the match to beat Manningham Mills by two runs.

Woodlands won with some ease against Baildon. After scoring 210-6 with Chris Brice adding to his growing reputation of a batsman with an unbeaten 66 and Scott Richardson hitting 41 against his old club, the champions bowled out Baildon for 115. Matthew Duce (37) and Tabissum Bhatti (30) were the only batsmen to offer any real defiance as Safraz Ahmed (3-21) and Brice (3-34) set up their sides's win.

The 19 points Woodlands gained enabled them to go two clear of East Bierley who lost a nail-biting encounter to Pudsey Congs. East Bierley looked out for the count when they slumped from 110-1 to 189-9 in reply to Congs' score of 221-9. But their last-wicket pair of Paul Hutchison (38) and Greg Lambert had other ideas. They had the crowd on the edge of their seats as they reduced the target to just three from three balls when Hutchison was bowled by Scott Cunningham.

Medium pacer Cunningham finished with four for 32 and along with Matthew Doidge (4-52) had seized the initiative away from East Bierley after Gharib Razak (59) and Andrew Rennison (36) looked to have batted their side into a winning position.

Doidge, celebrating the birth of his daughter earlier in the week, also made a telling contribution with the bat. He hit nine fours and a six in a typically bustling innings of 67 which enabled his side to reach 221-9 on a wicket of increasing low bounce. The other main contributor was opener Afaq Raheem. He marked his farewell appearance for Congs before departing on Monday to take part in a 13-week training camp with Pakistan's Players of the Future squad by making an elegant 69. Kez Ahmed was the pick of the bowler with two for 17.

Farsley have only won twice this season but each time they have achieved their success in a thrilling last ball finish. Manningham Mills needed three off the final ball to win but last man Gamaal Hussain was run out.

Ahsan Butt (63), Mohammad Maroof (41), Mohammad Said (33) and Hussain (30) all tried to lift the tempo for Mills but Chris Henry (4-94) kept plugging away for Farsley who had set up their win with a splendid batting effort. Wicketkeeper David Syers hit his highest score of the season of 82 and was well supported by Shabir Rashid (56), Matthew Green (54) and skipper Ashley metcalfe (50no) against a Mills attack in which spinner Mohammad Maroof (3-30) was the most successful bowler.

Despite their 20 point maximum Farsley remain bottom because Hanging Heaton also won. They defeated Brighouse by four-wickets. Sri Lankan Thilan Thushara produced his best bowling form of the season to take six for 54 as Brighouse were restricted for 189-8. Mark Gill (83no) and Haroon Rashid (48) provided the bulk of the runs.

Hanging Heaton were given a good start to their innings with Chris Schofield (60) and Sujith Vidanage (42) sharing a stand of 62. A flurry of wickets saw Hanging Heaton slump to 144-6 before Thushara (24no) and Mark Inwood (24no) steered them home in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 49.

Bowling Old Lane completed a fine day for the bottom three when they defeated inconsistent Idle by four-wickets. Overseas player Shoaib Khan finally came good for Old Lane with an unbeaten 64 which enabled them to overhaul the Idle total of 164-9 in which Harvey Anderson (50) and Paul Cummins (46) batted well, Bilal Ejaz was the most successful Old Lane bowler with three for 75.

Pudsey St Lawrence's hopes of bouncing back from their shock Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup defeat by Great horton were shattered when Saltaire inflicted a six-wicket defeat on them at Tofts Road.

St Lawrence didn't show their normal fluency with the bat and were restricted to 197-8 despite the efforts of Alex Stead (58) and Iain Priestley (42) Saltaire skipper Ijaz Khan picked up three for 37.

Saltaire slipped to 10-2 before Wasim Munawar with a forceful 78 and Gulsheraz Ahmed (62) took charge to set up their team's win.

Cleckheaton again proved vunerable on their travels as they crashed to 66 all out in reply to Bradford & Bingley's 171. Bingley's skipper, former Cleckheaton opener Carl Sharp, made 52 and shared a first-wicket alliance of 90 with Scott Etherington (36). Slow bowlers Tom Pringle (4-53) and Mohammad Zaman (4-44) again prospered.

Cleckheaton's batting crumbled against an all seam attack. Will Briggs (3-6) and Ethi Mbhalati (3-17) did most of the damage.

There were surprises in Division Two also with the top two, Yeadon and Morley both losing and the bottom two, Windhill and Lightcliffe, both winning.

Windhill produced the performance of the day to defeat leaders Yeadon. Overseas star Aftab Khan hit a sparkling 129 and was well supported by skipper and former Yeadon player Paul Mosey (82) as Windhill made 279-8. Yeadon replied with 239-8, but despite the efforts of Andrew Robertson (55) and Grant Soames (46) they were sentenced to defeat by spinner James Pringle (6-66). The win moves Windhill up from 11th to eighth

Morley's poor league form continued as they suffered a third successive defeat against Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup giant-killers Great Horton. Morley made a disappointing 152-9. Matthew Taylor (35) was their top scorer as they struggled against the bowling of Altaf Hussain (4-37). Great Horton eased to a seven-wicket triumph with skipper Kashif Naveed (49) and opener Nasser Chawdhery (37no) leading the way.

Morley were 21 points clear at the top two weeks ago but now they find themselves in third place. Esholt climbed above them after crushing Undercliffe by nine wickets. Paceman Ben Lister took five for 23 as Undercliffe crumbled to 101 all out. Esholt cruised to victory with their overseas player Shahzaib Khan making an unbeaten 56 which included 11 fours.

Gomersal maintained their promotion challenge with a three-wicket win over Bankfoot. Richard Gould, scorer of two centuries in his previous three innings, came in at number eight and made 29 not out to steer his side home. Bradley Parker (39) and Adam Stott (34) were the other main contributors as Gomersal overhauled Bankfoot's total of 198 all out. James Holdsworth's rapid 60 with four sixes and six fours was the highlight of the Bankfoot innings while Ashfaq Ahmed made 52. Skipper Rob Burton was Gomersal's best bowler with four for 53.

Richard Robinson marked his return to the Keighley side with a sparkling innings of 129 - five sixes and 13 fours - as Keighley crushed Hartshead Moor by 170 runs. Thanks to Robinson, Keighley made 258-8. Overseas Adnan Raees was the best bowler for Hartshead Moor with four for 56. Moor were dismissed for 88 as Andrew Coppen picked up three for 20.

Aleem Ladak set up Lightcliffe's second win of the season. He took five for 20 as his side defeated Spen Victoria by five wickets. Despite a defiant innings of 84 from all-rounder Chris Elstub, Spen could only make 161. Lightcliffe slipped to 48-4 in reply , but thanks to an unbeaten 46 from Paul Ramsden they eased home and are now only four points adrift of Spen Victoria at the bottom.