Posted July 15, 2006

 

It was a dismal day for the Pudsey clubs as champions Woodlands took a decisive 23 point lead in the Division one title battle.

Congs suffered a crushing seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Woodlands, while second-placed Pudsey St Lawrence slid to a three-wicket loss at East Bierley.

Woodlands now have the biggest lead any side has had in Division One this season and they showed the quality of champions as they dismissed Pudsey Congs for 180 on a perfect batting track. Left arm spinner Chris Brice took four for 51 and Safraz Ahmed (3-62).

Opener Andy Bethel made a defiant 61 and Andrew Bairstow a brisk 42, but the rest of the batsmen struggled against the relentless accuracy of the Woodlands attack.

Woodlands raced to their victory target with 19 overs to spare with Richard Pyrah hitting a six and 16 fours in a punishing innings of 86. Opener Russell Murray finished 52 not out against his old club.

Like neighbours Congs, St Lawrence paid dearly for failing to post a big enough score batting first. They were dismissed for 181 at East Bierley despite getting off to a promising start with openers Alex Stead and Mark Whitehead putting on 50.

St Lawrence slumped to 69 for five at one point as former St Lawrence bowler Paul Hutchinson took three for 28. Wicketkeeper Graeme Wrightson (54no) tried hard to revive his side but with little support .

East Bierley also experienced problems when they batted. They slipped to 75 for five before overseas star Jaffer Nazir guided them home with a brisk 62 which contained four sixes and five fours.

At the bottom of the table Keighley won the basement battle with Morley by 11 runs to record their second win of the season.

Skipper Steve Reape hit ten boundaries in an unbeaten 82 which enabled Keighley to make 198 for nine despite some good bowling from Shehzad Butt (3-38) and Nathan Bromby (3-44).

Morley looked well out of the hunt as they slipped to 94 for six, but Shehzad Butt (47) and Sam Medley (35) gave their team a glimmer of hope which was extinguished quickly once they were parted. Ross Towler was the pick of the Keighley bowlers with five for 63.

When Brighouse plunged to ten for two there was little hint of the run spree that lie ahead against Farsley. Skipper Mark Gilliver and Haroon Rashid both hit centuries in a magnificent partnership of 276 for the third-wicket - a new Bradford League record beating the 257 by Faisal Naveed (174) and Mohammed Siddique (79no) fro Great Horton against Esholt in 2002.

Gilliver struck seven sixes and 14 fours in his robust knock of 139, while Rashid's 108 included a six and 14 fours.

Faced with a daunting total of 297 for four, Farsley batted with some spirit. Openers Matthew Green (56) and Steve Simpson (51) shared a stand of 84, but after that wickets fell steadily. Robin Hill (4-50) and James Stansfield (3-56) joined forced to dismiss Farsley for 216 to earn Brighouse a 20 point maximum.

There's no keeping Idle's super Sri Lankan Dinusha Fernando out of the action. He smashed 55 not out and picked up three for 52 as his side defeated Baildon by 78 runs.

Harvey Anderson (54) and Danny Shuffe (44) also chipped in with valuable runs as Idle made 237 for six. Baildon's hopes of victory disappeared when their middle order disintegrated and they plunged to 107 for seven. Mushtaq Ahmed struck some defiant blows in a 22-ball half century, but even his 57 couldn't prevent Baildon from being dismissed for 159. Off spinner Paul Cummins picked up three for 24.

Another Sri Lankan all-rounder in top form was Hanging Heaton's Thilan Thushara. He made 58 and took four for 54 as his side took 20 points from a 41-run win over Saltaire.

Skipper Alan Mynett (56) and Zac Morris (34) were the other main contributors to a Hanging Heaton total of 263 for nine. Mansa Khan was Saltaire's best bowler with three for 56.

Saltaire were dismissed for 212 with Farhan Khan (3-35) giving good support to Thushara. Kuram Maqsood produced some explosive hitting late in the Saltaire innings. He blasted a rapid 62 and reached his half-century off 32 balls.

Enigmatic Cleckheaton lost again. This time they went down by two wickets to Bradford & Bingley. Cleckheaton made an horrendous start to the match losing their first three wickets with just six runs on the board.

Skipper John Wood (45) stirred hopes of a revival but his side were eventually bowled out for 135 as the evergreen Richard McCarthy kept up his good run of form with four for 36.

Bradford & Bingley had trouble combating left arm opening bowler Craig Wiseman. He took six for 48 to reduce them to 97 for eight.

It needed defiant, unbeaten ninth-wicket stand of 40 from Will Briggs (33no) and Adam Swallow (19no) to see Bradford & Bingley home.

There was some explosive batting in Division Two where Esholt skipper Richard Whitehurst revived his side's promotion hopes with a blistering 153 not out in their ten wicket win over Windhill.

The Windhill bowlers must be sick at the sight of Whitehurst. Last season he made 187 against them, but if anything this innings was more dynamic.

Whitehurst eased to his first half-century in 33 balls and took just 12 more deliveries to complete his century. In all he hit an incredible ten sixes and 15 fours.

His opening partner Khalid Mehmood made a modest 29 not out in an unbroken first wicket stand of 200 which was compiled off just 137 balls.

In the Windhill innings skipper Dean Skillicorn blasted a rapid 75 and he an Avanish Aware (47) put on 119 for the eighth wicket after their side had descended to 76 for seven in the face of fine bowling from Ben Lister (6-28).

Esholt's win moves them up to fourth place, six points adrift of Undercliffe who also piled on the runs. They made 273 for five as they beaten Yeadon by 87 runs. Opener james Clarke led the way with a fine century, while the hard-hitting David Taylor made 94 with five sixes and 12 fours.

Opener Steve Lawrence made 49 for Yeadon, but Arun Lal (4-40) and Ben Heritage (4-48) joined forces to bowl them out for 206 to clinch a 20 point maximum for Undercliffe.

Manningham Mills have a slender one-point lead over Bowling Old Lane after defeating Spen Victoria by eight-wickets.

Spen were dismissed for 166 despite a fighting 55 from Matthew Speck. Nasser jamal (3-45) and Hamed Younis (3-42) did the damage. Mills eased to their victory target with overseas batsman Afsar Nawaz making an unbeaten 67 and the promising Amar Rashid (52 no).

Manningham Mills collected 16 points, one more than Bowling Old Lane did for skittling out Lightcliffe for 88 and winning by eight wickets. Opening bowlers Malik Aftab (6-40) and Zubair Najeeb (3-39) did the damage. Aftab followed up with 39 as Old Lane cruised to victory.

Overseas batsman Shoaib Khan was in top form as Hartshead Moor defeated Bankfoot to climb to eighth in the table. Khan stroked 14 fours in an unbeaten 71 as Hartshead Moor overhauled a Bankfoot score of 184 for nine.

Opener Craig Field (56) and Ian Wardlaw (33) also played key roles in the successful run chase.

Bankfoot's innings was built around half centuries from Simon Curry (59) and Sam Wilson (55). The pick of the Hartshead Moor bowlers were Wardlaw (4-58) and Matthew Evans (3-44).

A third Sri Lankan to make a big impression on the day's matches was Gomersal's Malinda Thotiwilage. He took five for 35 as Great Horton struggled to 150 for nine, then hit an unbeaten 50 as he and hard-hitting Adam Greenwood (83no) shared an unbroken second-wicket stand of 137 to seal a nine-wicket win.