Posted May 6, 2006

Pudsey Congs and Morley were the only teams to beat the weather an post victories which impact on both ends of the Division One table.

While Congs were celebrating a comfortable eight wicket success over champions Woodlands in the battle of the title chasers, Morley were defeating bottom team Keighley by three wickets to post their first triumph of the new season.

Both results, gained on a day when the wet weather prevented positive results in the remaining top flight games, could prove priceless as the season unfolds.

Certainly there was no hiding the disappointment of the Woodlands players as they were dismissed for just 99 as Mark Bray picked up six for 35 - his second successive six wicket haul. Then, Babar Butt showed their batsmen how it should be done by hitting three sixes and six fours in an unbeaten 51.

A former Congs player, overseas fast bowler Shehzad Butt, had a big hand in Morley's victory. He took four for 45 and was well supported by spinners Dave Nebard (3-35) and Steve Lane (2-37) as Keighley were dismissed for 169. Richard Robinson fought hard to make 68 after his side had plunged to 11 for three and later took four for 35 but his efforts were in vain.

Morley eased home thanks to another exciting innings from Ed Galek. He continued his rich vein of form by racing to his half century in 46 balls with two sixes and seven fours. He eventually fell for 73 but Adam Larkin (33) ensured his side got the win they wanted,

Pudsey St Lawrence's hopes of extending their lead were shattered by the weather. After posting another highly competitive total of 230 for seven, rain caused six overs to be lost before East Bierley started their reply. Teenager Chris Marsden top scored with 53 not out and there were useful contributions from Alex Stead (36), Andrew Doidge (36no) and Mark Robertshaw (32).

To secure the ten points for the win St Lawrence needed to bowl their rivals out in 44 overs. They gave it a good shot with Australian James Pearson taking four for 41, but Bierley despite plunging to 145 for eight, eventually clung on to finish on 173 for eight. That meant it was an incomplete match - with each side collecting two points plus bonus points. St Lawrence picked up four batting and four bowling points giving them 10 from the match.

It was enough to enable St Lawrence to maintain a six point lead at the top, but now their closest rivals are Congs who are the only team with four wins from four starts.

Mark Gill underlined while his absence has been keenly felt by Cleckheaton by making a century on his return at Bradford & Bingley. The left hander made 108, an innings which contained a six and 12 fours. With overseas Khurram Shehzad continuing his impressive start for the club with 59 and skipper John Wood chipping in with an unbeaten 36, Cleckheaton posted their best score of the season of 263 for four.

Rain shaved four overs from the Bradford & Bingley innings which again meant that they had to bowl their rivals out if they were to claim the 10 points for a win. Bingley denied them finishing on 184 for six with Richard Nichols (41), Matthew Cockshott (36no) and Chris Wheeler (34) making useful contributions.

Brighouse's overseas player Rizwan Ahmed continues to impress. He made 107, an innings laced with two sixes and 12 fours, as his side made 238 in their incomplete match with Farsley. Wicketkeeper Mark Horne chipped in with a breezy 57 in which he hit a six and nine fours. Chris Henry (4-53) and Vineet Sharma (3-26) were the pick of the bowlers.

Farsley made 160 for four in reply with James Petty making an unbeaten 64 as Brighouse skipper James Stansfield rang the changes in a bid to break the deadlock.

Baildon were agonisingly close to forcing victory in their match with Idle which saw six overs lost from the Idle innings. Openers Simon Davies (68) and Colin De Grandhomme (42) shared a first wicket partnership of 107 to lay the foundations for a total of 242 for nine. David Clow (39) and Ian Philliskirk (33) also chipped in with valuable runs despite the efforts of the former Bankfoot duo of Andy Marshall (3-58) and Greg Colehan (3-64).

Idle struggled against the bowling of Phil Slater who returned his season's best figures of seven for 61. They finished on 147 for nine with Marshall (32no) denying Baildon the win their superiority would have justified.

Saltaire may not have an overseas player, but it doesn't seem to have prevented them from posting good scores. They made 230 for eight against Hanging Heaton with Gulsheraz Ahmed making 83 and fellow new boy Sarfaraz Mahomed 48. Paceman Nick Summercales took four for 56 for Hanging Heaton.

If Saltaire have a problem it is in taking wickets. Hanging Heaton opener Chris Schofield was unbeaten on84 when bad light ended the game eight overs early.

Division Two leaders Manningham Mills maintained their 100 per cent start with a convincing eight-wicket win over Spen Victoria. Chasing 209 to win they cruised home with Adil Islam (69no), Afsar Nawaz (54no) and Amar Rashid (47) dominating the Spen bowling attack.

The batsmen built on the good work of Nasser Jamal who took six for 56 as Spen collapsed from 80 for two to 90 for seven. The home side were only revived by a powerful counter attack from Steve James who blasted a six and 13 fours in a rousing knock of 85.

Great Horton also have three wins from three games after edging home by two wickets against Gomersal. Rizwan Akbar (3-34) and Ziafat Ashraf (3-16) bowled out Gomersal for 125, but Great Horton struggled in reply.
Opener Aftah Ahmed (35) and Doid Alishan (33) were the men largely responsible for steering their team home as Rob Burton took three for 33.

Bowling Old lane followed up their Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup win over Farsley with a thrilling three wicket win over fellow cup giant-killers Lightcliffe - conquerors of Bradford & Bingley.

Replying to a formidable Lightcliffe score of 240 for five which was built around an unbeaten 69 from in form Jonathan Wilson and 58 from Australian Anthony Crilley, Old Lane squeezed home with Mohammed Hanif (67), Tahir Khan (52) and Malik Aftab (52) leading the victory charge.

Nigel Hanson maintained his excellent early season form for Bankfoot. He took six for 29 as they dismissed Hartshead Moor for 75 on their way to a seven-wicket success.

Esholt had a nail-biting one-wicket win over lowly Windhill. The task of overhauling a Windhill score of 128 - which owed much to a determined knock of 55 from Anu Misra - looked fairly simple at the outset, but Esholt ran into big problems against the bowling of Avenish Aware (4-56) and Dean Skillicorn (3-45). They needed a patient innings of 52 not out from Basil King to see them home.

Undercliffe were frustrated by the weather at Yeadon. They had to settle for a haul of eight points which sees them lose their grip on second place to Great Horton.

Left arm spinner Munir Khaliq took five for 50 as Yeadon were dismissed for 188 which owed much to another fine innings from overseas Amer Sajjad (72) and 57 from skipper David Leather. Undercliffe finished on 162 for seven in just 36 overs.