Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup Third round review

Posted: July 22, 2007
Updated: July 25, 2007
Updated: July 27, 2007

Morley v Bowling Old Lane Picture Gallery ........>>Click here

Pudsey Congs completed the line-up for this season's Sovereign Health Care semi-finals when they completed a 170-run win over Brighouse at the Britannia Ground on Friday evening.

After making 241-9 in their 50 overs on Tuesday evening, Congs had to wait a further three days before the match could resume.

Rain had meant that no play was possible on Wednesday and Thursday so Congs were anxious to push for victory when conditions finally relented.

Brighouse had only nine players at the ground when they batted - James Clarke and Richard Barron were not available - and Congs wasted no time in dismissing their rivals for 71. Scott Cunningham continued his good form with the ball by taking four for 11, while left arm spinner Glenn Roberts took three for 27. Richard Elphee was Brighouse's top scorer with 18.

The Congs' innings on Tuesday had been dominated by the performances of skipper Babar Butt and Andrew Bairstow who both made 56. Matthew Doidge (31) chipped in with valuable runs while Darren Dunkerley was the most succesful bowler with four for 30.

Congs will now face an awakward away tie against their bogey side Baildon at Jenny Lane on August 12. Baildon secured their place when they defeated Saltaire by 47 runs in a match which had to be played on successive evenings after play was washed out on Sunday and Monday.

The home side batted first and made 165 all out in their 50 overs - the final six overs of the innings were completed on Wednesday after bad light brought an end to play after 44 overs on Tuesday.

Skipper Ian Philliskirk (38) and Simon Davies (23) had launched the innings with a stand of 69, but once they were dismissed a collapse set in. They plunged to 117-8 as Tausef Arshad took six for 12, but Craig Hitchenor (21) led a revival which helped his side to finally total 165.

Saltaire found it hard to score at the required rate when they batted against some extremely effective Baildon bowling. Young Jack Holland played well for 35 but lacked support as his side were dismissed for 118 in 48.5overs.

Hitchenor (3-14) and Jeremy Batty (3-34) were the main wicket-takers, but Mushtaq Ahmed (2-12) in ten overs and Jamie Abbott (2-24) in 9.5 were extremely economical.

The use of three spin bowlers certainly helped the over rate and the two teams should be commended on the fact that a total of 54.5 overs were bowled on Wednesday evening.

Cleckheaton are just one match away from their first ever Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup final appearance after defeating giant-killers Great Horton by three wickets in their quarter-final tie at Ewart Street.

But John Wood's men know they face a testing assignment in the semi-finals on August 12 because they face another tricky away clash against last season's beaten finalists Bowling Old Lane.

Old Lane, who would dearly love to make it to a second successive final, also beat Division Two opposition. They defeated game Morley by 29 runs.

Cleckheaton had been warned to expect a difficult time against a Great Horton side which had previously defeated Farsley and Pudsey St Lawrence. They weren't disappointed in that respect.

Great Horton gave Cleckheaton a few scares along the way but in the end their total of 156 proved insufficient. In fact, they paid dearly for only using 45 of their 50 overs.

Great Horton had to show character top post a score of 156. At 16-3 they looked in deep trouble, but skipper Kashif Naveed again came to their rescue with a fine knock of 69. Iqbal Khan also chipped in with 35, but the remaining batsmen struggled against Cleckheaton's fine bowling attack. Left armer Craig Wiseman was the top wicket taker with three for 36.

Cleckheaton lost skipper John Wood with just four runs on the board when they replied, but steady batting from Craig Thornton (34), Ian Nicholson (31) and Mohammad Zaman (31) saws them home with 16 balls to spare.

Bowling Old Lane had overseas Shoaib Khan to thank for setting them on course for victory over Morley. Khan made 50 and shared a decisive third-wicket stand of 97 with Tahir Khan (42) which was the cornerstone of Old Lane's score of 193-7.

Morley's patched up bowling attack deserved credit for the way they pegged back Old Lane in the closing overs after Old Lane's two top scorers were dismissed in quick succession.

Morley needed a good start if they were to mount a serious victory bid but two of their key batsmen, Shoaib Khan and Matt Taylor were back in the pavilion along with Richard Winn with the total only on 29.

Ed Galek (46) and Sam Medley (27) batted with spirit but Morley were finally dismissed for 164 as Bilal Ejaz claimed three for 24.

First round review........>> Click here

Second round review........>> Click here