Sunday, September 11

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Division One

Pudsey Congs clinched the league championship for the sixth time in 11 seasons by defeating Bankfoot by 66 runs.

The victory capped a storming finish to the season which saw them win nine of their last ten games - the other one against Woodlands was rain affected - as they came up on the rails to win the most thrilling title race for years.

They finished five points ahead of Bradford & Bingley who defeated Cleckheaton by 74 runs and 15 in front of East Bierley who took third place after their 34-run win over Undercliffe.

Pudsey St Lawrence, the long-time favourites, faltered in the final straight and suffered a four-wicket defeat against Farsley to slip to fourth place, one point ahead of Woodlands who finished with a 75-run win at Saltaire.

Rain delayed the start of all the matches so they all became reduced overs contests.

Congs found themselves batting first on a wet, green track at Bankfoot and the going was difficult against the bowling of Nigel Hanson and Greg Colehan.

Only Eugene Burzler (36) of the the early batsmen made an impact and when Matthew Doidge - given a guard of honour and applauded to the wicket by the Bankfoot players for his final Bradford League innings was dismissed, Congs were in trouble at 99-6.

But they were revived by a timely innings of 44 from Babar Butt, who like Doidge, has figured in all six of Congs' title wins.

Butt struck three sixes and two fours as he transformed Congs' fortunes. A final score of 164-8 in 32 overs was extremely challenging given the bowler-friendly conditions.

Bankfoot were soon in deep trouble at 14-4 when replied. Alex Hewitt and Eugene Burzler each picked up two wickets aided by some stunning catches.

Adam Patel took an acrobatic boundary catch to dismiss Andrew Duckworth, while Babar Butt showed great agility to catch John Barton at slip.

James Holdsworth (37) put on 51 for the fifth wicket with Tom Simpson (12) but once they were parted the end came quickly. Mark Bray crowned his farewell game by taking 4-17, before Doidge fittingly took the catch off the bowling of skipper Glenn Roberts which secured both victory and the league title.

Bradford & Bingley opener Simon Davies hit his second century in successive games as they beat Cleckheaton with some ease.

Davies struck two sixes and 17 fours and shared in an opening stand of 137 with Scott Etherington (57).

Once maximum batting points had been achieved, skipper Phil Slater declared at 227-3, giving his side two extra overs in which to try and dismiss Cleckheaton.

The visitors made 153-7 in 40 overs with Marcus Walmsley top scoring on 43. Bradford & Bingley used eight bowlers on an afternoon when their title hopes were finally extinguished.

East Bierley looked like a team in a hurry in their 30 overs game with Undercliffe. They were bowled out for 177 in just 24.1 overs with Andrew Rennison hitting 67 and Liam Walsh (46).

Skipper Chris Greenwood (4-32) and overseas professional Nawaz Sardar (3-52) were the pick of the bowlers for Undercliffe who were dismissed for 143 in reply. Ben Heritage (52) and Sardar (49) battled hard but Muhammad Azharullah (4-20) had the last word as East Bierley won by 34 runs.

Pudsey St Lawrence suffered their second successive defeat to end a season that promised so much on a low note. Neighbours Farsley chased down a St Lawrence score of 215-6 to win by four wickets with eight balls to spare.

Barry Frankland (43), Joe Greaves (43no), Lorenzo Ingram (34) and Bradley Kruger (30) helped Farsley to their victory target.

The highlight of the St Lawrence innings was a splendid 119no from Mark Robertshaw which enabled him to pass 1,000 runs in a season for the first time. Gareth Clough chipped in with 37 while Ingram picked up 3-58 with his left-arm spin.

Woodlands ended their season on a high note with a 75-run win at Saltaire. Spinner Chris Brice - Division One's lead wickettaker - took 4-42 as Saltaire were bowled out for 139 in reply to a Woodlands' score of 214-7. Same Frankland (45), Nicky Rushworth 42, skipper Pieter Swanepoel (42) and Tim Orrell (40) all chipped in with useful contributions.

Relegated Yeadon ended on a high note as they defeated the 2009 champions Baildon by eight wickets. Baildon were restricted to 99-7 in a match reduced to 20 overs a side. Yeadon knocked off the runs with 15 balls to spare thanks to Oliver Halliday who hit 64no.

Division Two

Spen Victoria beat Keighley by three wickets in the only match to pip their rivals for sixth place by virtue of having won one game more.

Will Smith was the hero for Spen. He took 5-32 with his off spin as Keighley were restricted to 132-9 in their 40 overs, and followed up with an unbeaten 40 as Spen reached their victory target with six overs to spare.

Jason Wilkinson (33) and Matthew Bottomley (30) were the top scorers for Keighley while Ross Towler (4-36) was the pick of their bowlers.