JCT 600 Bradford League First Teams review August 2 2008

Posted: August 2, 2008

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The JCT 600 Bradford League Division One title race took another dramatic twist as Cleckheaton defeated leaders Woodlands for the second time this season and Saltaire inflicted a shock nine wicket defeat on Baildon.

It means that Pudsey Congs, five wicket winners at East Bierley, move up to second just ten points behind defending champions Woodlands with seven games to go.

To add to the drama of an eventful afternoon, four of the bottom five teams recorded wins, while in Division Two, Farsley's Chris Henry took a stunning seven wickets in seven balls as they defeated Hartshead Moor to collect a maximum 20 points, while Gomersal dismissed Idle for just 77 as they recorded a ten-wicket win which moves them into second place.

Cleckheaton's win over Woodlands was dramatic. The league leaders, replying to a score of 159-8, plunged to 29-4 as Ian Wardlaw claimed three wickets,, recovered to 106-5 through skipper Tim Orrell (48) and Adam Goldthorpe (40), and then collapsed to 144 all out. Spinners Tom Pringle (3-23) and Mohammad Zaman (3-24), backed by some excellent catching, sealed Cleckheaton's win.

In the Cleckheaton innings, skipper John Wood hit a robust 37 while his vice-captain Craig Thornton made 36 not out. Left arm spinner Chris Brice with three for 52 was Woodlands' most successful bowler.

Woodlands are now looking over their shoulder anxiously at the growing challenge of Pudsey Congs. They underlined the growing strength of their title challenge as they bowled out East Bierley for 161 with spinners Jeremy Batty and Glenn Roberts each taking four for 36, before knocking off the runs with Babar Butt (67) and Andrew Bairstow (47) in good form. Greg Wood top scored for East Bierley with 51.

Saltaire skipper Ijaz Khan put a massive dent in Baildon's title hopes. He took eight for 29 as Baildon were dismissed for a dismal 115. Openers Wasim Munawar (57mo) and Javed Umarji (44) ensured that relegation-threatened Saltaire secured a valuable nine-wicket win.

Saltaire's joy was tempered when news emerged that Bowling Old Lane had gained 20 points from a 147-run win over Hanging Heaton to move level on points with the Roberts Park side.

Overseas player Riaz Kail had a fine match for Old Lane making 58 with the bat before taking three for 38 as Hanging Heaton's ten men were dismissed for 92. Ayaaz Akram (67) top scored for Old Lane while Mansha Khan (4-47) was the pick of their bowlers.

Esholt and Yeadon also had good wins. Gulsheraz Ahmed made 87no as Esholt recovered from 67-6 to post a highly-respectable score of 192-9. Chris Thompson was the pick of the Bradford & Bingley bowlers with six for 55.

Bradford & Bingley looked to be going well as Carl Sharp (58) and Chris Thompson (48) took them to 154-4 before a dramatic slump saw them bowled out for 168 - their last six wickets falling for 14 runs as Mark Cummins (3-29) and Paul Cummins (3-40) turned the game in Esholt's favour.

Overseas player Aamir Sajjad returned to form with an unbeaten 55 as Yeadon defeated Manningham Mills by six wickets. They had little trouble overcoming Mills' score of 119-9 which was dominated by 42 from overseas player Qaisar Abbas. Spinners Grant Soames (3-24) and Saif Malik (3-29) were the best Yeadon bowlers.

Bottom team Brighouse suffered their 14th defeat of the season as Pudsey St Lawrence beat them by nine wickets. Chris Marsden (5-13) and Gareth Clough (5-40) did the damage as Brighouse were dismissed for 91 despite some defiance from skipper Dave Maloney (33). Michael Raikes (42no) and Alex Stead (36no) saw St Lawrence to their target in 19.4 overs.

The quickest winners of the day were Gomersal in Division Two. Paceman Nasser Hussain took seven for 27 and Kashif Naveed (3-9) as Idle, who started the day in second place, were dismissed for 77. Naveed followed up by striking an unbeaten 53 as Gomersal took over second position. The result drops Idle to fourth place.

One of the best individual performance of the day came at Hartshead Moor where Chris Henry took seven wickets in 13 balls, including a hat-trick, as Farsley defeated the home side by 105 runs to collect a maximum 20 points. Moor were dismissed for 124 despite a defiant 63 from skipper Simon North. Henry, who at one point had figures of one for 40, finished with eight for 45.

In the Farsley innings, skipper David Syres top scored with 81 while North (3-78) and Andy Waudby (3-49) were the best of the Hartshead Moor bowlers.

Keighley are third after a 58-run win at Spen Victoria. Richard Robinson took five for 16 as Spen were dismissed for 128 when replying to a Keighley score of 186-9. Andy Waggett (45) top scored while Maz Bhatti (3-38) and Robert warriner (3-38) were Spen's most successful bowlers.

The misery continues for Morley. They remained anchored in the re-election positions after a 48-run defeat at Undercliffe. Overseas player Nawaz Sardar (92no) and James Hawley (67) helped Undercliffe to score quickly enough to enable them to declare after 47 overs with a score of 225-4 which guaranteed maximum batting points.

Sardar also impressed with the ball. He took four for 28 as Undercliffe restricted Morley to 177-8. Nathan Bromby was Morley's top scorer with 36.

Overseas player Ammar Mahmood made an unbeaten 60 as Windhill secured a six-wicket win over a Bankfoot side they dismissed for 124 with Dan Walton taking four for 23.

Lowly Lightcliffe were dismissed for just 75 as they suffered an eight-wicket defeat at Great Horton. Ziafat Ashraf took five for 15 and Mohammad Sharafat (4-20) as Lightcliffe were skittled out. Overseas player Suleman Khan hit an unbeaten 43 as Great Horton reached their target in just 14 overs.