Congs score first win but slip to the bottom of the table

Division One
Pudsey Congs registered their first win of the season and ended Manningham Mills’ unbeaten start but still slipped to the bottom of the table.

That was because Farsley also registered their first victory by seven-wickets in a high-scoring encounter with Cleckheaton who are now the only team in the top flight without a win.

Off spinner Edward Walmsley (3-29) and Eugene Burzler (3-39) set up Congs’ win as Mills were dismissed for a modest 144. Only Gulsheraz Ahmed (40) and overseas player Noman Ali (32) looked at ease.

Openers Nick Lindley (46) and Gareth Phillips (31) gave the Congs reply a sound start. Burzler chipped in with 37, and even the loss of three wickets with victory in sight, didn’t tarnish the win.

Haroon Rashid, elder brother of Yorkshire all-rounder Adil, was the star of Farsley’s victory at Red Lane. He hit three sixes and nine fours in an unbeaten 95 as his side chased down a Cleckheaton score of 251-9 with 6.4 overs to spare.

Rashid received good support from his skipper Ian Philliskirk, who made 77, and the 2011 Gordon Bowers Young Cricketer of the Year Joe Greaves who made 40.

The Cleckheaton innings had earlier been rescued from the depths of 16-3 by a sparkling fourth-wicket stand of 164 between overseas player Ammer Mahmood and Richard Whitehurst.

Whitehurst struck 13 fours in a 93-ball inning of 96, while Mahmood hit two sixes and seven fours in a fine 94. Off spinner Mark Harrison proved to be the most successful Farsley bowler with 4-67.

Tofts Road was the place to see runs. Pudsey St Lawrence defeated Hanging Heaton by 16 runs in a match which produced 608 for the loss of just 13 wickets.

Skipper Mark Robertshaw led from the front by making his first century of the season. He made exactly 100 with 13 fours as his side piled up a score of 312-4.

James Smith was back to his punishing best as he made 84 from just 57 balls with six sixes and seven fours. David Hester (48) and Gareth Clough (43no) also ensured that the scoreboard kept ticking over at a rapid rate.

Hanging Heaton opener David Stiff made 46 against the side he played for last season, while Joe Fraser (45) and James Stansfield (43) added useful runs, but the real fireworks came from the ninth-wicket pair of Nick Bresnan – brother of Yorkshire and England’s Tim – and Umar Rehman.

They came together with their side 202-8 and smashed 93 in just nine overs. Bresnan led the way with a swashbuckling 71 off just 32 balls which contained three sixes and ten fours. Their efforts saw Hanging Heaton finish on 296-9.

Off spinners Steve Watts (3-69) and Chris Marsden (3-87) were the most successful bowlers for St Lawrence who are now second – 19 points adrift of unbeaten leaders Woodlands.

The defending champions gave another demonstration of their all-round strength as they defeated Undercliffe by 142 runs.

Simon Mason (66) continued his good form and was joined in a third-wicket stand of 112 by new-recruit Stephen Piercey (64).

Sarfraz Ahmed hit three big sixes in a rapid 34 as Woodlands reached 266-6 before dismissing Undercliffe for 124 with skipper Pieter Swanepoel(4-34) and left-arm spinner Chris Brice (4-22)  doing the damage.

East Bierley skipper Lee Goddard made a sparkling 106 from 103 balls as he led his side to a two-wicket win over Saltaire,

Goddard hit three sixes and 13 fours and was joined in a decisive fifth-wicket stand of 140 by new signing Richard Atkins. The former Baildon all-rounder made an invaluable 61 as East Bierley staved off the threat of Wasim Qasim (4-54) and Kamran Anwar (3-50) to secure their third straight league win.

Saltaire’s total of 222-6 owed much to a maiden Bradford League century for opener Irfan Amjad. The talented youngster struck 11 fours and was joined in a first-wicket stand of 83 by Farhan Khan who made 53.

Lightcliffe capitalised on Bradford & Bingley’s inconsistent form to register a 35-run win at Wagon Lane. Chris Taylor (77) and Alex Lees (61) took advantage of the good batting conditions as they shared a second-wicket stand of 107 which helped their side make 222-5. Young opener Andy Gorrod also chipped in with 33.

Despite the useful contributions of Scott Etherington (40), Phil Slater (38), Alex Atkinson (32) and James Davies (31), Bradford & Bingley were dismissed for 187 with Josh Wheatley taking 4-55.

Division Two

Mahmood Rasool hit the last ball of the match for
six as Yeadon celebrated the purchase of the White Swan Ground with a dramatic two-wicket victory over Gomersal which takes them to the top of Division Two.

When the final over started, Yeadon needed nine runs to overhaul the Gomersal total of 181-9. Oliver Halliday took two runs from Rob Ellis’s first delivery, but the bowler gained his revenge by trapping him lbw next ball.

A scrambled bye from the the third delivery was followed by another wicket as Nick Hudson was stumped by Jack Seddon. New batsman James Riley sneaked a single leaving five needed from the last delivery and Rasool duly obliged as he lofted the ball over the boundary.

It was cruel luck on Ellis who finished with figures of 5-56 and kept his side in the game after opener Callum Goldthorp (63) and Damon Gormley (51) had played valuable knocks for Yeadon.

Gomersal, who saw the leadership and their unbeaten record go with Rasool’s last shot, really should have gone on to post a bigger score than they did after the in-form Greg Pickles (54) and Jonathan Boynton (49) had batted them into a good position.

The fact that they didn’t was due to the gutsy efforts of opening bowlers Oliver Halliday (4-46) and Rasool (3-27),

Third-placed Baildon romped to an eight-wicket win over Brighouse with opener Gharib Razak blasting an unbeaten 108 from just 82 balls. The former East Bierley batsman smashed six sixes and 12 fours as Baildon sped past the Brighouse total of 159-9 in 25.2 overs. Umar Salim (43) top scored for Brighouse as Alex Hewitt picked up 3-25.

Windhill’s Hassan Mehmood was another century maker. He made an unbeaten 113 from 100 deliveries as he steered his side to a six-wicket triumph at Bankfoot. His innings was punctuated with a six and 18 fours.

Thanks to Mehmood, Windhill made light of the task of chasing down the Bankfoot total of 198-8 which included an unbeaten 55 from new boy Elsroy Powell and 51 by John Barton.

Great Horton made it three wins on the trot as they defeated Keighley by three wickets. Sadaqat Zaman took 5-63 as Keighley were bowled out for 143, then Raheel Ahmed made a valuable 53 as they reached their target despite the efforts of Tom Stead (4-19) and Joe Stead (3-34).

Overseas player Kashif Naveed was in good form as Morley returned to winning ways with a nine-wicket success against Bowling Old Lane. Naveed took 4-39 with his left-arm spin as Old Lane were dismissed for 132, then he hit an unbeaten 50 as he and James McNichol (42no) sealed the win.

An unbeaten 72 from Steven Blackburn and 39 from skipper Simon North enables Hartshead Moor to secure a five-wicket win at Spen Victoria. Ben Platt again bowled tidily for Spen to return figures of 3-28, but his side were unable to defend their score of 174-7.

Opener Matt Garside top scored with 80 for Spen while Rob Burton made an unbeaten 39 as Myles Brooke picked up 3-28.