PostedAugust 5, 2006

 

Morley are off the bottom of the table. They defeated Idle by 78 runs and gave themselves a glimmer of hope of avoiding relegation from Division One.

The 19 points they gained enabled Morley to leap frog over Keighley who suffered a ten wicket defeat against champions Woodlands.

But a lot of hard work still lies ahead for Morley because they remain 29 points behind Cleckheaton who are third from bottom.

Morley have been short of runs for much of the campaign but against Idle they clicked into top form.

Opener Richard Haikings set the tone with a fine 90, while Ed Galek hit a typically brisk 50 as Morley posted a challenging score of 240 for eight.

Idle were never in the hunt when they replied. Wickets fell at regular intervals and only overseas all-rounder Dinusha Fernando (51) posed a serious threat to a Morley bowling attack in which Richard Winn (4-39) was the key member.

Keighley are looking increasingly likely to make an immediate return to Division Two after their defeat by Woodlands. Last year's Division Two champions were dismissed for just 79 as Pieter Swanepoel took three for 25 and Chris Brice (3-8).

Woodlands knocked off the runs easily with Scott Richardson hitting an unbeaten 60 which contained a six and nine fours. Woodlands collected 15 points for their success.

woodlands remain 19 points ahead of Pudsey Congs who defeated Baildon by seven wickets to earn a similar points haul.
Overseas opening bowler Muhammad Azhar-Ullah took five for 29 as Baildon were dismissed for a dismal 118. Left arm spinner Glenn Roberts took three for 11 from 13 overs.

Congs eased to their target with opener Scott Cunningham making 49 on his return to the side.

Third-placed Pudsey St Lawrence collected an 18-point haul for their seven-wicket win at Hanging Heaton.

The home side were dismissed for 210 with James Smith taking four for 66. Top scorer for Hanging Heaton was Nick Whitehill with 66.

St Lawrence lost opener Chris Marsden without a run on the board, but Alex Stead (82) and Mark Robertshaw (58) transformed the situation with a second-wicket stand of 153.

James Smith (46no) completed the job of seeing St Lawrence to their victory target. Fourth-placed East Bierley were dismissed for just 63 as Bradford & Bingley's opening bowlers Ethi Mbhalati (5-36) and Richard McCarthy (5-26) secured a 112-run win for their side.

Bradford & Bingley had made 175 all out batting first. That was a slightly disappointing total given the fact that openers Scott Etherington (42) and Carl Sharp (40) launched the innings with a stand of 81.

Greg Lambert (4-16) and Kez Ahmed (3-43) were the pick of the East Bierley bowlers.

Overseas star Rizwan Ahmed is proving a big hit for Brighouse. he made 88 and then took three for 19 as his side defeated struggling Cleckheaton by 116 runs.

Skipper Mark Gilliver (51) shared a second-wicket stand of 138 with Ahmed as Brighouse built a total of 233 for four.

Cleckheaton's reply was disappointing. They were dismissed for 177 and remain just above the relegation zone. Opening bowler Mohammad Rassool took three for 31.

A remarkable last-wicket stand of 108 by wicketkeeper George Hicks (73) and Imran Arif (53no) enabled Saltaire to recover from 130 for nine to post a challenging score of 238 as they defeated Farsley by 102 runs.

The tenth wicket pair turned the game around and took the initiative away from a Farsley side which was without its skipper Ashley Metcalfe.

Farsley's batting was disappointing with opener Matthew Green (38) the only significant scorer. Arif completed a fine individual display by taking three for 44.

Leaders Bowling Old Lane retained their hold on top spot with a 15-run win over Esholt .

Old Lane looked in trouble at 71 for five but were revived by a fine 73 from Rakeeb Younis in which he hit five sixes and five fours. Their total of 212 for nine was much bigger than looked likely before Younis's assault.

Australian Riley Miguel (52) and Baz King (48) looked to have given Esholt a chance to secure the win that would have revived their promotion challenge, but they faltered and even 35 from James Pringle wasn't enough as they were dismissed for 197. Mohammed Hanif took three for 46.

Second-placed Manningham Mills gave another demonstration of their batting power. They made 281 for six against Hartshead Moor with overseas professional Afsar Nawaz making 96, Muenoddin Kadri (57) and Mohammed Maroof (43).

Hartshead Moor made 228 for seven in reply to lose by 53 runs. Skipper Matthew Evans made a battling 55, while Maroof was the pick of the bowlers with four for 27.

Spen Victoria are up to third after defeating Undercliffe for the second time this season. Spen didn't look to have much of a chance when they struggled to make 133 for seven in their 50 overs, despite brave half-century from their skipper Matt Taylor.

That modest total soon took on more daunting proportions as the Spen bowlers reduced Undercliffe to 36 for four. Andrew Duckworth attempted to stop the rot with 30, but eventually Undercliffe were dismissed for 99 to lose by 34 runs. Chris Hester finished with four for eight and Chris Elstub (3-18).

Bankfoot's experienced seamer Nigel Hanson was in great from as his side beat Yeadon by nine wickets. Hanson took eight for 26 in a superb 15 over spell as Yeadon were dismissed for 69. Opener Michael Nicholson hit 48 as Bankfoot sped to victory in 8.2overs.

After breaking their duck last week Windhill went on to record a second win. This time they defeated Great Horton by three wickets.

Great Horton made 279 all out with Atif Bajwa making 72 and Gulbar Ahmed (45) against a bowling attack in which Lee Harber (4-82) was the most successful member.

Harber followed up his performance with the ball by striking 54 as Windhill squeezed home. Maz Bhatti (64), Mohammad Akram (42) and Avenish Aware (39no) were the other main contributors in a three-wicket win.

Lightcliffe ended their lean spell by defeating Gomersal by six wickets. Michael Brooke (58), Anthony Crilley (58) and Jonathan Wilson (42) helped them to overcome a Gomersal score of 202 for eight in which Matthew Garside made 63 not out. Richard Tesseyman was the best Lightcliffe bowler with four for 14.