Riddlesden rampant in Craven League clash but Cowling cooked

They were sent in by tenants Eldwick & Gilstead at Grange Road and scored a mammoth 338-6, with opener Omar Khatab (103) and keeper Tayyab Ishaq (83) running riot.

Both were eventually prized out, with Ishaq’s dismissal leaving the score on 219-4, but the pain wasn’t over for E&G, as captain Mohammed Gulnawaz (50) and Saqib Hussain (42) then put on 78 for the fifth wicket.

Mohammed Kamran hit 23 not out from only seven balls to put the cherry on top of a stunning innings.

E&G replied with a creditable 270, Mohammed Arshad doing well to take 5-33 as Riddlesden remained sixth but E&G dropped one place to fifth.

Cowling’s title challenge has faded after Glusburn won an entertaining derby at Keighley Road by two wickets.

Opting to bat, Cowling were indebted to their keeper Abid Sharif, who went in first wicket down but was last out at 214, having scored 83 off 126 balls.

Abrar Sarwar (3-42) made a mess of the Cowling top order and Umar Farooq (3-45) cleaned up the tail.

However, Glusburn were in bother at 19-3, Hussnain Ishaq claiming all three wickets on his way to 3-27.

But opener Dipesh Mistry (44) put on 44 with Muhammad Hussnain (28) for the fourth wicket, and 51 with Sarwar (55no) for the fifth.

Sarwar then added 48 with Irfan Khaliq (31) and 38 with Farooq (30) to ensure his side earned a thrilling two-wicket victory.

Hosts Bradley chose to bat at home to leaders Gargrave, but soon regretted it as they were castled for 62, poor No.6 Shahzad GullBahar the only man to make an impression with 34.

Gargrave then took just 8.5 overs to knock the runs off for the loss of one wicket.

Next-to-bottom Haworth fell to a 61-run defeat at second-placed Haworth Road Meths, but there was further evidence that they have unearthed a good cricketer in 18-year-old Charlie Jackson.

After Meths had made 223-5, Jackson scored 30 opening the reply, with Jamie Rowell hitting 56 not out in Haworth’s 162.

In Division Two, Silsden’s second loss of the league season caused them to lose first place to Bowling Baptists.

Fifth-placed Airedale won the toss and chose to bat at the Airedale Oval, scoring 200-8, which seemed impossible when they were 59-8, Matthew Gill having made 30 of those.

Incredibly, Younis Shahzad (51no) and Ijaz Shah (74no) then added 141 unbroken to ruin the earlier good work of Silsden’s Dom Mortimer (4-38) and Mohsan Gulbhar (3-28),

Silsden, who were dismissed for 134, were then too reliant on skipper Jack Roberts, who scored 62 off 47 balls.

Ahsan Rizwan took 5-50 and Scott Whittam-Ritchie 2-20 as Airedale claimed a superb victory.

Sutton, who were without both David Snowden and Sam Solley, dropped two places to sixth after a batting collapse at home to new leaders Baptists.

Captain and keeper Ollie Gledhill (13) was the only player to reach double figures in Sutton’s 71 and Baptists then won by nine wickets in just 9.2 overs.

Cononley remain seventh, despite defeating visitors Hepworth & Idle II by 37 runs.

The reliable Andrew Starkey made 40 for the hosts, who were sent in, but the real impetus in their 165 came from Colin Stead in the middle order, who scored 68 off 69 balls.

Andrew Starkey batted well for Cononley as they earned a good win at the weekend. (Image: Richard Leach.)

Although six of the Westfield Laners reached double figures, they could only muster 128 in reply, with Scott Brook (3-45) and Ihsanullah Daulatzia (3-24) among the wickets.

Meanwhile, Denholme are out of a demotion berth after defeating visitors Skipton CI by 79 runs.

The hosts were 148-3, with Ben Burkill (94) the main reason for that, before they fell away a little, finishing on 203.

But that was more than enough, as CI slumped to 16-6 in reply, only to finish on 124 via a wagging tail.

Ryan Judson took a magnificent 7-42 for Denholme, including a hat-trick.

Ingrow are now in a relegation berth, eight points behind Denholme, after losing by five wickets to visitors Thornton-in-Craven.

The hosts made 202-9 after opting to bat, with Phil Broadley (50no) and Sayeedul Alom (34) putting on 80 for the sixth wicket.

Thornton then won in the 36th over after a solid reply.

Division Three leaders Long Lee benefited from a concession by Sutton II, but on a bad day for the Cobbydalers, Silsden II also lost.

They are clinging on to second place still, albeit with Cowling II, Menston IV and Bradford & Bingley now breathing down their necks.

Silsden did not really cash in after winning the toss, making only 132 at home to Menston after collapsing from 102-3.

Tom Leach (45) had helped give the hosts that fine start, but their drop-off proved costly, as Menston won by two wickets with four overs to spare.

There was an identical margin of victory for Cowling II against next-to-bottom Keighley III at Marley, with the hosts making 140 after being sent in, 72 of which came from keeper Abid Hussain.

The wickets were shared between Ubaid Rauf (3-24), Haseeb Majid (5-37) and Awais Riaz (2-12).

Things looked dodgy for Cowling when they were 84-8, with Matt Mounsey bagging 3-36 and Rahim Hussain taking 3-26, but they were seen to victory by Rauf (31no) and Riaz (16no) in an unbroken stand of 57 after Irfan Ishaq had made 41.

In Division Four, leaders Bradley II could only field 10 men at home to Ingrow II, which could have proved fatal.

They dismissed the visitors for 115, Abid Hussain top-scoring with 32 as Mohammad Imran took 4-23 and Nasar Riaz 3-33, but then Bradley needed all 10 batters in their reply.

Harry Andrews (48) helped his side up to 88-3, but that score soon became 109-8 as change bowlers Sufyaan Hussain (3-50) and Adam Millward (3-20) did their stuff.

In the end, it needed keeper Josh Whiteoak (8no) and Imran (6no) to get Bradley over the line in the 31st over with an unbroken last-wicket partnership of nine.  

Skipton CI II kept the pressure on the leaders, and are now just 10 points behind after a 64-run win against Denholme II at Sandylands.

CI collapsed from 162-4 to 168 all out, Matt Waring taking 4-22, but there was no need to worry as Danyal Iqbal then took 5-25 to ensure Denholme were back in the pavilion for 104, despite 34 from Paul Armitage and 21 from Hussnain Ali.

Glusburn II are down to fourth on 123 points, swapping places with Bowling Baptists II, who defeated them by 141 runs at Park Field.

Baptists made 239-5 after losing the toss, with Ikram Ahmed taking 3-53.

Glusburn were never in the hunt after tea, however, being dismissed for 98 inside 29 overs, despite 32 from opener Rafaqat Hussain.  

Haworth II, who had a free week, are fifth on 100 points, 23 behind Glusburn II, while Airedale II are only behind the Brontelanders on net run rate after losing to Long Lee II by three wickets at Golden View.

Airedale made 156-7, with opener John Pollard (64) and Asher Nutting (31) putting on 57 for the fourth wicket as Aqib Choudhry took 4-55.

Long Lee replied with 159-7 in the 35th over, with Ajmal Choudhry hitting 45 and Ben Stowell making 32 to deny Paul Feather (2-23).