KEIGHLEY were forced to tie their latest Bradford Premier League Division Two clash with Hopton Mills after a dramatic finish.

Batting first, Hopton Mills reached 243-7 from 42 overs. Meanwhile, in a revised target, Keighley missed out on the victory, as they reached a total of 237 all out from 39 overs after they were given a revised target of 238 from 39 overs during Saturday’s clash.

Keighley’s veteran batsman Mark Gilliver became only the third player to pass 17,000 runs as he made 19 as his side chased a target of 238 in 39 overs. Scott Etherington (65), Simon Bailey (53) and Amjid Hussain (53) put them in sight of victory, but they had to settle for a tie when their last two batsmen were run out.

The tied contest saw Keighley take away 15 points, while Hopton Mills secured 17 points. The latter side was handed two extra bowling points.

Following the tied clash, Keighley are now sixth in the Division Two table with 110 points from the first nine games of the season. Keighley have won four games and lost four games so far this campaign.

Winning the toss, Keighley elected to field first. Top scorer for Hopton was Mark Ashton who was run out after reaching 82 runs from 82 balls.

Amjid Hussain was the star bowler for Keighley, finishing with figures of 3-45 from his eight-over spell. There was a wicket apiece for Keighley bowlers Daanyaal Ahmed (1-78) and Wasim Hussain (1-61). The other two Hopton Mills wickets to fall in their innings were run-outs, for Ashton and their opener Chris Scott.

Meanwhile, Scott Etherington starred for the hosts Keighley and was ably supported by Bailey and Amjid Hussain, who both fired 53 for their side.

There were also two run-outs for Keighley, as Ijaz Ahmed and Daanyaal Ahmed were dismissed for just three and one respectively for their side.

Wasim finished not out on nine as Keighley ran out of time and deliveries to reach their revised target and the game was tied.