Last-wicket pair steer Congs to victory over Woodlands

Division One

Last-wicket pair Barney Gibson and Mushy Shah took 11 runs from the final over as Pudsey Congs scored a thrilling one-wicket win over leaders Woodlands.

The victory virtually guarantees Congs’ Division One survival and has given hope to the three teams pursuing Woodlands in the title race – Cleckheaton, East Bierley and Lightcliffe who all won.

Congs were 191-9 in reply to Woodlands’ 201-8 when Stephen Piercey started the final over.

Shah took a single from the first ball before Gibson – who became the youngest player ever to play First Class cricket last year when he appeared for Yorkshire against Durham University Centre of Cricket Excellence – hit a boundary and a single.

Shah struck the second four of the over to level the scores before scampering a single off the fifth ball to seal victory.

Opener Nick Lindley again played a key part in his side’s success with a battling 55 as Chris Brice (4-45) and Pieter Swanepoel (3-54) kept the pressure on.

Brice had earlier he had top scored with 73 not out for Woodlands. Simon Mason (44) was his side’s other main contributor as Eugene Burzler (4-58) and Edward Walmsley (3-54) bowled well for Congs.

Woodlands saw their lead cut to 33 points with three games to play, as Cleckheaton won a nail-biting encounter at Manningham Mills by one run.

Paceman James Lee had Masood Ahmed caught by Ian Wood to seal victory as the last three Mills wickets fell for three runs to see them all out for 161

Lee finished with 4-28 and was well supported by Yorkshire seamer Iain Wardlaw (3-46) and spinner Andrew Deegan (3-43) as Mills faltered after Adil Islam (55) and Gulsheraz Ahmed (38) were dismissed.

Opener Tim Jackson (34) top scored in Cleckheaton’s 161, while spinner Noman Ali (3-31) was the pick of the bowlers.

There was another exciting finish at Lightcliffe where Josh Wheatley hit the final two balls of the game from Chris Marsden for a six and a four to secure a three-wicket win over Pudsey St Lawrence.

Seventeen runs came in the last over as Wheatley (46no) and Richard Thompson took their side past Pudsey St Lawrence’s total of 161-8.

Victory had seemed unlikely when Lightcliffe plunged to 56-5 as spinner Marsden (4-49) and Steve Watts (3-34), posed problems.

However, a sixth-wicket stand of 80 between skipper Jonathan Wilson (43) and Wheatley changed the complexion of the game.

St Lawrence had also experienced early problem. They lost their first two wickets without a run on the board, but James Smith (61) and Dave Hester (42no) revived the innings despite the efforts of former St Lawrence player Alex Stead (3-32).

Third-placed East Bierley had all-rounder Richard Atkins and spinner Kez Ahmed to thank for their 92-run win over Hanging Heaton.

Bierley were in trouble at 18-3 before Atkins came to their rescue. He made 71 and with help from Nick Walker (33) enabled East Bierley to post a challenging score of 198-9.

Hanging Heaton were unable to overcome the threat of Bierley’s spin twins Kez Ahmed (5-25) and Luke Jarvis (3-22) as they were bowled out for 109. The last fell wickets fell without addition to the score.

It is looking increasingly likely that Farsley and Undercliffe will be the two teams filling the relegation positions at the end of the season.

Farsley are 26 points adrift of third-bottom Hanging Heaton after suffering a seven-wicket defeat against Saltaire who took a huge step towards guaranteeing their place in the top flight for next season.

Overseas player Nawaz Sardar took 4-23 as Saltaire restricted Farsley to 175-7. Barrie Frankland (44), Andrew Duckworth (33) and Haroon Rashid (32) were their main contributors.

Saltaire paced their reply well with opener Farhan Khan (67) and Fahid Rehman (56no) hitting half-centuries as their side won with 11 balls to spare.

Bottom team Undercliffe suffered a miserable afternoon. They were skittled out for just 77 as Chris Thompson (3-3), Phil Slater (3-25) and Matthew Simpson (3-33) took advantage of helpful conditions. Bradford & Bingley eased to an eight-wicket win in 18.5 overs.

Division Two

Gomersal breathed new life into the Division Two promotion race as they defeated leaders Baildon by 85 runs.

With second-placed Yeadon beating Hartshead Moor by seven wickets and Morley overcoming Spen Victoria by six wickets, just 19 points cover the top three clubs.

Gomersal, who are a further 22 points further back, cannot be ruled out of the equation as like Morley they have a game in hand on the top two

Left-arm spinner Chris Rhodes was the man who secured Gomersal’s victory. He took 5-18 as Baildon were bowled out for just 90.

Conditions clearly suited the left-arm spinners because Mushtaq Ahmed had earlier taken 6-27 as Gomersal were dismissed for 175. Their total owed much to the efforts of Greg Pickles (42).

Yeadon skipper James Todd played the lead role as his side returned to winning ways with a seven-wicket win over Hartshead Moor.

Todd made 92 as he and Tariq Mehboob (44no) ensured there were no slip ups as they chased a Hartshead Moor score of 165.

Off spinner Damon Gormley bowled impressively again to take 6-36 as Hartshead |Moor were unable to build on the half-centuries made by veteran Mick Baldwin (57) and opener Graham Hilton (51).

Morley’s overseas player Kashif Naveed inspired them to victory over Spen Victoria. Naveed took 5-13 as he and Dave Nebard (3-13) spun out their opponents for 96. Naveed followed up with an unbeaten 41 as Morley cruised home.

There was a welcome win for Brighouse as they beat Bowling Old Lane by 45 runs. Greg Osbourne (38no) and Zahir Hussain (35) helped Brighouse to post a total of 160-7.

Old Lane, despite54 from Ayyaz Akram, were dismissed for 115 as Will Smith took 5-18 and Adil Ladak (3-35).

Idle, who like Brighouse are rooted in the re-election positions, also won. They beat Windhill by five wickets. Sohail Hussain took 4-33 as Windhill were bowled out for 127, then Amjit Bhogal made 42 as Idle knocked off the runs.

The match between Bankfoot and Great Horton didn’t even start. Great Horton failed to have eight players at the ground 30 minutes after scheduled start time so the match was abandoned. Bankfoot have been awarded 15 points.

This is subject to ratification by the Management Board who will decide what further action to take.