Cleckheaton's Zaman bowled by Glen Roberts

East Bierley opener Gharib Razak hit his maiden JCT600 Bradford League century to guide his side to a seven-wicket win over his old club Saltaire which maintained their 100 per cent start to the Division One season and took them two points clear at the top.

Razak struck a six and 16 fours as he made 102 not out from 113 balls and he was joined in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 135 by his skipper Gavin Hamilton (49 not out).

They came together after Mansha Khan had struck three early blows to give Saltaire hope, but Razak and Hamilton ensured that it was quickly extinguished.

Saltaire had made 174 for seven batting first with opener Wasim Munawar hitting 54 and Adal Islam (38not out).

East Bierley collected 16 points and are now two ahead of Woodlands who are the only other team with a 100 per cent record. The champions were at their destructive best as they crushed Idle by eight wickets.

Woodlands dismissed the home side for just 88 with Safraz Ahmed (5-43) and Pieter Swanepoel (4-32) wreaking havoc with the new ball. Woodlands lost two wickets knocking off the runs they needed for victory with Scott Richardson scoring 35.

Pudsey St Lawrence are third after picking up a maximum 20 points from their 63-run triumph over Bradford & Bingley. Once again St Lawrence showed their batting power with new Australian Tom Stray (79not out), Mark Robertshaw (71), Gareth Clough (37) and Alex Stead (34) carrying Saints to a total of 242 for four. Bradford & Bingley were dismissed for 179 as skipper Andrew Doidge took five for 32 with his off spin.

Craig Wiseman

Cleckheaton produced a battling performance to inflict a second defeat of the season on Pudsey Congs. Cleckheaton owed their success to some outstanding bowling from Craig Wiseman (5-58) and Ian Wardlaw (2-27) after some lusty hitting late in their innings by Ian Wood (51) and Tom Pringle (35not out) which carried them from a precarious 86 for six to a highly respectable total of 185 for eight.

Congs were made to pay for some extremely wayward bowling in the first ten and final ten overs of the Cleckheaton innings. In between those times left arm spinner Glenn Roberts (3-13) and Mark Bray (3-38) both bowled 15 overs straight off to show what was possible on a helpful wicket for bowlers.

Cleckheaton's bowling was far more disciplined and they reaped their rewards as only Roberts with 32 showed any prolonged resistance.

Bowling Old Lane's first win of the season enabled them to climb off the bottom of the table. They defeated Hanging heaton by 79 runs and the Bennett Lane club are now propping up the table.

Old Lane looked in big trouble when they slumped to 90 for seven as James Stansfield (3-63) and Farhan Khan (3-18) posed problems, but Raqeeb Younis (39not out) and Bilal Ejaz (32) set about repairing the damage in a partnership of 66. An eventual total of 176 for eight was far more than Old Lane could have hoped for.

Hanging Heaton never settled in reply and tumbled to 97 not out as skipper Zubair Najeeb (4-28) and Ejaz (3-54) showed good form with the ball for Old Lane.

Brighouse gave another demonstration of their batting strength as they made 233 for two on their way to a 144-run win over Farsley. Openers James Clarke (74not out) and skipper Mark Gilliver (63) put on 127 and their good work was built on by Rizwan Ahmed (37not out) and Haroon Rashid (31).

Farsley, who are slipping dangerously towards the lower reaches of the table, were dismissed for 89 with Alex Blakeborough (33) the only batsman to make double figures as Tim Linley took seven for 38.

Win at home lose away. That seems to be the formula for Manningham Mills who suffered a 34-run reverse at Baildon.

Tabbissum Bhatti (59) steered Baildon to a score of 197 for nine. Mills replied with 163 in which Asif Hussain top scored with 51 and opener Amjid Hussain hit 35. Spinner Jeremy Batty was again the pick of the bowlers with three for 21.

Division Two now has new leaders. Morley kept up their impressive unbeaten start to the campaign with a 71-run win over Lightcliffe which enabled them to overhaul Esholt who tasted defeat for the first time this season by five wickets against Great Horton.

Morley, who started the day nine points adrift of Esholt, now head the table by four points. Once again their off spinner Steve Lane was the star turn. He followed up his seven wickets against Gomersal with six for 32 as Lightcliffe were dismissed for 90 in reply to Morley's score of 161 all out.

The undoubted highlight of the Morley innings was a dazzling century for overseas batsman Shoaib Khan. he struck three sixes and nine fours in making 102.. Seamer Aleem Ladak stuck ton his task for Lightcliffe and finished with five for 45.

Esholt had been piling up massive scores in their previous games, but on this occasion their batting

Ian Wardlaw

faltered. They never fully recovered from losing their first five wickets for 35 even though Nadeem Hanif made 67 and Shazhab Khan (31not out) to push the total to 151 all out. Sadaqat Aaman was the pick of the Great Horton bowlers with four for 21.Great Horton cruised to victory with 16 overs to spare with Kai Naveed making 43.

Spen Victoria's new overseas player Adnan Raza Ali announced his arrival by making a stylish 72 as his side recorded their first win of the season. Raza was well supported by 15-year-old opener Callum Geldart (57) and Chris Elstub (47) as Spen posted a score of 220 all out. Windhill never looked like challenging that score as they ran into early trouble against Elstub (4-45) and were eventually bowled out for 140.

Hartshead Moor recorded their second successive one-wicket win. This time their victims were Bankfoot. Moor might have expected a more comfortable margin of victory when Danny Squire (4-8) helped them bowl out Bankfoot for 89. However, the home side hit back and with Nigel Hanson taking six for 40, Hartshead Moor only just edge home. Trent Otto top scored with 29.

After two successive league defeats where they were bowled out for 71 and 88 respectively, Gomersal roared back to form as they defeated Yeadon by 60 runs. Former Yorkshire batsman Bradley Parker was in top form as he hit five sixes and 12 fours in an innings of 117, while Yorkshire leg spinner Mark lawson weighed in with 59.

Yeadon fell away after opener Andrew Robertson (63) and skipper David Leather (50) had given them some hope. Skipper Rob Burton (3-48) and spinner Craig Woodhead (3-21) the chief wicket takers.

Keighley and Undercliffe had the un fortunate distinction of featuring in the season's first abandoned match. Four overs were lost from the second innings meaning that each side got two points pllus the bonus points they had earned. It meant Keighley picked up six and Undercliffe seven.

The match featured two very fine individual performances. Opener Richard Robinson made 85 as Keighley recorded a score of 219 for seven, then Undercliffe skipper Simon Kellet responded by making an unbeaten 104 out of his side's score of 152 for one.