JCT 600 Bradford League First Teams review May 26, 2008

Skipper Slater leads from the front as leaders win again

Posted: May 26, 2008

Skipper Phil Slater led from the front as Bradford & Bingley retained their place at the head of the JCT 600 Bradford League with their sixth win in six games, a 77-run victory at Saltaire.

Slater hit four sixes and six fours as he made top score of 94 in his side's total of 223 all out. Chris Thompson (37) was the other main contributor.

Saltaire's new Indian all-rounder Eahul Kanwat took four for 61 and followed up by top scoring with 67 as the home side were dismissed for 146. Veteran Richard McCarthy continued his excellent early season form by taking four for 27, while Matthew Cockshott picked up three for 47.

Bradford & Bingley picked up 19 points to take their tally to 98 and it enabled them to retain their two-point advantage over second placed Baildon who had a narrow eight-run win at Esholt.

Openers Simon Davies(78) and skipper Ian Philliskirk (59) put on 102 as they provided the foundation for a score of 239-6. Ahsan Butt (39) and Simon Webb (39no) also added valuable runs.

Esholt made a brave bid to overhaul Baildon's total but finished eight runs short on 231-8. Opener Mark Cummins continued his good form with 54 while Gulsheraz Ahmed top scored with 57. Skipper Richard Whitehurst weighed in with 41 not out, but Baildon held their nerve to secure their fifth win in six matches.

Woodlands bounced back from their first defeat in 33 games on Saturday by racing to a ten wicket win over woeful Brighouse. Opening bowler Pieter Swanepoel took eight for 40 as Division One's bottom team were skittled out for 81. Woodlands knocked off the runs in 9.3 overs with Scott Richardson hitting 43not out.

Cleckheaton followed up their win over Woodlands by making it a miserable two defeats in three days for ambitious East Bierley. Cleckheaton won by 41 runs after Ian Wardlaw (5-38) and skipper John Wood (4-37) exploited an unpredictable pitch.

East Bierley collapsed from 132-3 to 169 all out in reply to Cleckheaton's total of 210-6 which included an unbeaten 64 from Mohammad Zaman and 60 from opener Mally Nicholson. Yorkshire's Greg Wood (69) was East Bierley's top scorer.

A close-fought Pudsey derby was won by Congs by nine runs. They recovered from 110-6 to make 212 all out thanks to the efforts of Jeremy Batty (45) and Matthew Doidge (42)

St Lawrence , who hoped to avenge their recent Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup defeat against their arch rivals, made 203-9 in reply. Gareth Clough (70), Alex Stead (49) and James Smith (44) all made valuable contributions but no other batsman made double figures. Left arm spinner Glenn Roberts was key to Congs' second win of the weekend, taking four for 34 in 15 overs.

Fifth-placed Hanging Heaton avenged their Sovereign Health Care Priestley Cup first round defeat by beating Yeadon by three wickets. Chris Schofield maintained his rich vein of form with the ball by taking five for 35 as Yeadon were dismissed for 128, despite 48 not out from Grant Soames. Hanging Heaton looked in trouble at 68-6, but eased home as Richard Thomas finished unbeaten on 24.

Overseas player Quaiser Abbas was in top form for Manningham Mills as they eased to a 62-run triumph over Bowling Old Lane. Abbas made 96 and shared a fourth-wicket stand of 159 with Muenoddin Kadri (85) which helped Mills to make 279-8. Abbas followed up by taking three for 55 as Old Lane were restricted to 217-9. Former Old Lane player Amjid Khan also took three for 55. Khalid Rehman (50) and Bilal Ejaz (40) were the main scorers for Old Lane.

Farsley's new Jamaican batsman Lorenzo Ingram made a spectacular debut. He smashed 11 sixes and 11 fours in a dazzling innings of 155 that helped his side to a 240-run win at Spen Victoria. With Shabbir Rashid making 66 and Ashley Metcalfe (43), Farsley piled up a score of 326 despite the efforts of Mohammad Maroof (6-62) and Imran Amin (4-78).

Spen's brittle batting crumbled again. They were dismissed for just 86 with overseas player Naeemuddin Qazi (43) top scoring again. Chris Henry was the pick of the bowlers with six for 45 as Farsley picked up 20 points.

The victory enabled them to climb into second place above Gomersal who were beaten for the second time this weekend at Undercliffe. Their powerful batting line up misfired as they were dismissed for 127. Richard Gould (38) top scored, but even he couldn't save his side on this occasion as Nawaz Sardar took five for 53. Undercliffe eased to a seven-wicket win with Ben Heritage (37) and Sardar (30no) leading the way.

Overseas player Mohammad Fayyaz hit an unbeaten 110 and Mohammad Rasool took a hat-trick as leaders Idle beat Windhill by eight wickets to secure their sixth successive win. Fayyaz struck a six and 14 fours and was well supported by Greg Pickles (35) as Idle overhauled a challenging Windhill score of 197-7.

Neil Johnson (64), Ammar Mahmood (44) and Mohammad Altaf (35) were the main contributors for Windhill while Rasool, aided by his hat-trick, was the most successful bowler with four for 45.

Bankfoot's South African batsman Gareth Von Hoesslin continued his good form by making an unbeaten 81 to help steer them to a nine-wicket win at Lightcliffe. Von Hoesslin shared an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 158 with Micky Hutchins (77no) as Bankfoot eased past Lightcliffe's score of 160 all out. Paceman James Lee (3-45) and Andrew Deegan (3-38) were the most successful bowlers. Jonathan Wilson (48) top scored for Lightcliffe.

Morley's in form batsmen Adam Larkin (85) and skipper Matthew Taylor (68) set up their side's 96-run win at Hartshead Moor which earned them a maximum 20 points. Morley made 263-6 before dismissing their rivals for 169. Paceman Mohammad Azhar Ullah took four for 40 and spinner Tom Smith (3-18).

Fourth-placed Keighley head to battle hard for their six-run win at Great Horton. Opener Matthew Bottomley (59) and Max Davidson (34) helped them to post a score of 201 all out despite some good bowling from Moin Ashraf (4-44)

Great Horton made a brave bid to go for the runs with Seleman Khan (54) and Khaliq Mahmood (38) making valuable contributions, but Ross Towler (3-47) made sure Keighley held on for victory.