Wardlaw terrorises East Bierley with devastating spell

Division One

Yorkshire paceman Iain Wardlaw produced a stunning spell of 7-38 as Cleckheaton dismissed East Bierley for just 80 as they romped to a ten-wicket win in the day’s top game.

Wardlaw proved to be simply too good for the East Bierley batsmen from the moment he trapped Andrew Rennison lbw from the second ball of the game.

Skipper Lee Goddard and Richard Atkins were dismissed from successive balls, and when Wardlaw removed former Yorkshire and England all-rounder Gavin Hamilton, East Bierley were 21-4.

It was a position from which East Bierley, who started the day in second place, never recovered.

Cleckheaton compounded East Bierley’s misery by knocking off the runs in just 9.5 overs with opener Mally Nicholson finishing 47 not out.

The result catapulted Cleckheaton back into second place, but they are 45 points behind leaders Woodlands who scraped home by two wickets at Manningham Mills.

Woodlands looked set for a comfortable win when Sarfraz Ahmed (5-34) and Pieter Swanepoel (4-42) dismissed Mills for 131. Gulsheraz Ahmed (35) and Aeezaz Dar (34no) spared Mills from a far smaller score.

Opener Scott Richardson (38) was the only one of the top order to settle as Noman Ali (4-31) and Iqbal Khan (3-38) reduced Woodlands to 64.6.

They were fortunate that Ahmed was in no mood to let his good work with the ball go to waste. He curbed his normal aggressive style to make was for him was a sedate 38 not out from 64 balls to see his side home.

There’s was drama at the opposite end of the table with the bottom three, Pudsey Congs, Farsley and Undercliffe all winning.

Undercliffe’s beat Saltaire by nine runs at Roberts Park and the maximum 20 points they received for the win enabled them to haul themselves off the bottom at the expense of Farsley, who won by four wickets at Lightcliffe.

Undercliffe were indebted to Callum Geldart (68) and former Saltaire all-rounder Yassir Abbas (56no) for enabling them to post a score of 226-6, despite the efforts of Kamran Anwar (4-53).

Saltaire, who seem to have made an unfortunate habit of losing close games, tried their hardest to chase down the target, but they fell away once former Undercliffe overseas player Nawaz Sardar was dismissed for 61. Fahid Rehman (55) also tried to keep Saltaire in the hunt, but they faltered in the closing overs as spinners Ben Heritage (3-28) and Tom Hudson (3-44) wrapped up their side’s fourth win of the season.

Farsley’s joy at defeating a Lightcliffe side that started the day in third place, was tempered by the news of Undercliffe’s win.

Skipper Ian Philliskirk played a leading role in his team’s success. He made a fine 91 that enabled Farsley to overhaul the Lightcliffe score of 193-8 with one over remaining. Philliskirk struck five sixes and six fours .

Lightcliffe’s innings included half-centuries for opener Chris Taylor (73) and Alex Stead (54). The pick of the Farsley bowlers was once again off spinner Mark Harrison (4-57). Opening bowler Chris Henry took 3-50.

The Pudsey derby proved to be a one-sided affair. Congs won by 109 runs after skipper Glenn Roberts (5-23) and Basil Akram (3-21) dismissed St Lawrence for 107.

Congs, who won the Dyson Insulations Twenty/20 Cup on Thursday night, capitalised on St Lawrence’s depleted bowling resources to post a total of 216-7. Opener Nick Lindley continued his good form with his side’s top score of 52, while Babar Butt (39), Gareth Phillips (36) and Richie Lamb (35no) gave him good support.

Congs are now fifth from bottom after climbing above Saltaire and Hanging Heaton – two sides who must be becoming concerned by the way they are being sucked back into the relegation battle.

Saltaire are 20 points above the relegation places and Hanging Heaton, 21,following their 78-run defeat at Bradford & Bingley.

Paceman Matthew Simpson (6-58) produced his best bowling figures for Bradford & Bingley as they bowled out Hanging Heaton for 153.

Hanging Heaton looked to be heading for an embarrassingly low total when Simpson reduced them to 30-6, but Nick Bresnan – brother of Yorkshire and England’s Tim – spared their blushes with an unbeaten 86 that contained two sixes and 15 fours.

Bradford & Bingley built their score of 231 around an aggressive innings of 88 from Chris Thompson and 57 from skipper Phil Slater. His counterpart Mark Lawson – who has taken over the leadership from John Carruthers – took 5-56 with his leg spin.

Division Two

Mushtaq Ahmed had Idle in a spin as he returned the stunning figures of 8-14 to seal a 165-run win for Baildon which takes them 18-points clear at the top on a day when their main title rivals Yeadon suffered a seven-wicket home defeat to Spen Victoria.

Ahmed’s left-arm spin sent Idle tumbling to 49 all out as they replied to a Baildon score of 214-5 which included a fine 107 from opener Gharib Razak.

He struck three sixes and 11 fours and was supported by Jonny Reynolds (30) as Baildon moved another step closer to an immediate return to Division One.

Yeadon, who lost the leadership and their unbeaten record to Baildon last week, found the going tough against Spen Victoria.

They were restricted to a modest score of 148-7 as only Ben Elvidge (43) and Tariq Mehbood (35no) came to terms with the accurate Spen bowling. Left-arm spinner Ben Platt was the most successful bowler with 3-43.

Spen moved easily to their victory with Peter Jackson (39), Tosh Baker (35no) and Nicky Rushworth (33) leading the way.

The result was good news for third-placed Morley who did not have a game. They are now 15 points behind Yeadon with a game in hand.

Keighley failed to capitalise on the good work of their left-arm spinner Simon Bailey (6-12) as they suffered a 71-run defeat at Gomersal.

Bailey helped restrict Gomersal to 136, a score that owed much to a battling 46 from Greg Pickles. But Keighley crumbled in reply to 65 all out with another left-arm spinner, Gomersal’s Chris Rhodes, taking 4-30.

Andrew Marshall impressed with both bat and ball and Bankfoot beat Hartshead Moor by 46 runs. Marshall, who is more noted for his prowess with the ball, smashed 46 and helped skipper Neil Nicholson (40) steer Bankfoot to 164-8 .

Hartshead Moor crumbled to 118 all out in reply as that man Marshall took 4-26 and Greg Colehan (3-26).

Two overseas players who have produced consistent runs are Bowling Old Lane’s Devraj Patil and Windhill’s Hassan Mehmood. Both made half-centuries as their sides recorded victories over Great Horton and Brighouse respectively.

Patil’s 57 helped Old Lane chase down Great Horton’s 200-8 to win by four wickets with ten balls to spare. Ayyaz Akram (34), Mohammed Faisal (33) and Shoaib Iqbal (30) also made useful contributions. Great Horton’s top scorers were Sadaqat Zaman (47) and Mohammed Khan 942).

Mehmood added an unbeaten 57 to his growing tally of runs as Windhill eased to an eight-wicket win after bowling out Brighouse for 141. Zahir Hussain 952) and Will Smith 932) were the mainstays for Brighouse as Tuseif Arshad (4-40) and Hanif Khan (3-28) posed problems.