Riddlesden and Long Lee have fine days for different reasons

The title may have been won by Gargrave last weekend, but, with two weeks to go, the men from Grange Road at least have the chance of finishing runners-up.

They made it five wins out of six by defeating Hepworth & Idle, who were in second, by 122 runs after opting to bat.

Opener Zafran Ghaffar set the tone with 56, and their tail wagged, with No.9 Mohammed Zulfiqar scoring 42 and No.10 Mohammad Ishtiaq 28 as they finished on 201.

Then Zulfiqar and Ishtiaq completed fine matches by taking 4-18 and 5-10 respectively as the Westfield Laners were skittled for 79 on their own turf.

Glusburn are sixth after a fine five-wicket victory at Grange Road against Eldwick & Gilstead, who made 160 after opting to bat, new-ball pair Irfan Khaliq (3-31) and Tamoor Munir (3-48) getting among the wickets.

Then opener Matt Lloyd batted through the reply, making an unbeaten 52, Munir completing an excellent match by scoring 55.

Bradley notched an important win at home to Cowling to keep resurgent Wilsden at bay.

Dave Hunt led the way with 59 off 41 deliveries, including five fours and five sixes, in the hosts’ 223-7 as Martyn Dalby (3-49) pegged them back.

Junaid Gulnawaz made 62 off 68 balls in the reply, but lacked support, as Zain Naeem took 4-62 in his side’s 44-run victory.

Meanwhile, relegated Haworth’s forgettable season continued as they were dismissed for 74 at Wilsden.

Two Wilsden juniors then knocked off the runs without loss in 16 overs

Silsden have been promoted alongside leaders Bowling Baptists in Division Two, but the destination of the title is still uncertain.

The Cobbydalers are 44 points ahead of third-placed Sutton, but are only 15 points behind the Manningham club.

Silsden made certain of going into Division One with a five-wicket victory at Thornton-in-Craven, who made 156 after winning the toss, collapsing from 134-4 as Dom Mortimer (4-22) held sway.

Joshua Waind (47) and Rob Jones (52) were the dominant batsman in the reply, as Silsden won in the 34th over by five wickets.

Sutton won by 50 runs at home to now relegated Hepworth & Idle II, making 204-8 after being sent in.

Sam Solley, batting in the middle order for a change, scored 70, including nine fours and three sixes, while No.9 Jack Whitaker hit seven fours and a six in his 56.

Sam Solley batted superbly to see Sutton to a comfortable victory on Saturday. (Image: Phil Jackson.)

Sachin Abraham then returned the remarkable analysis of 6-7 in his 11.1 overs, taking four wickets in his second spell to hasten the Westfield Laners’ demise for 154.

Airedale, who are fourth, lost a thriller at Bowling Baptists in a game that was reduced to 35 overs per side due to the BBC live streaming Campion’s lunchtime FA Cup tie (they share the complex with the cricketers at Scotchman Road).

Baptists made 147, with Scott Whittam-Ritchie (3-32) and Saqib Javaid (3-45) among the wickets.

Airedale were given a fine start by opener Khuram Shahzad Butt (46) but finished one run short on 146-9.

Cononley won by 69 runs at Denholme, but they are still not safe from relegation.

Opener Andrew Starkey had the galling experience of being dismissed for 99, as the visitors slid from 196-4 to 197-8, before ending on 214, with Ryan Judson taking 4-50 and Adam Taylor 4-61.

Denholme were 143-7 but lost their last three wickets for just two runs as Zabihullah Kareemi took 3-28.

Adam Taylor gave the innings some late impetus with 57 off 99 balls, including nine fours, but Denholme fell well short at the end.

Ingrow have climbed out of a relegation place, dropping Skipton CI there instead, by winning a low-scoring match at Hainworth Lane.

Four Ingrow bowlers shared the wickets at CI were dismissed for 81 after winning the toss, with Atif Malik taking 3-23, Toby Hartley 3-4, Shahid Ajmal 2-15 and John Allott 2-0.

Ingrow’s players also struggled with the bat, but led by opener Ben Weatherall’s 15, they won by two wickets, both sides’ innings lasting 27.5 overs.

Ingrow are now eight points ahead of CI, with both teams having to play bottom-of-the-table Hepworth & Idle II, while CI host Silsden on September 14 - the final day.

Long Lee and Cowling, who meet on the last day of the season at Keighley Road, seem to be in a two-way battle for the Division Three title, with Silsden II as outsiders.

Opener Mark Day scored 55 for leaders Long Lee at Menston IV, as they made 146 after being sent in.

All of Menston’s top six failed to make double figures, including three ducks, and they did well to reach 101 as Jack McGrogan (4-45), Qasim Tarin (3-12) and Shahbaz Ahmed (3-22) proved a potent trio.

Cowling II, who are 10 points behind, had a 43-run home win over Bradford & Bingley III.

Reyan Hassan Ali (92no) batted through Cowling’s innings of 183-7, hitting 13 fours.

Haseeb Majid then bagged 3-38 as Bingley could only reply with 140.

Silsden II, 17 points behind Cowling in third, still have an outside chance of promotion after defeating visitors Wilsden II by 56 runs.

The top five for the Cobbydalers all made double figures in their 161-7, headed by opener Hugh Sugden (29) and Lewis Middleton (29no).

Alex Nelson (4-31) and Tom Snowden (4-10) then put the skids under Wilsden’s reply of 105, the latter dropping into a demotion place.

Sutton II, one of four teams in a battle to avoid the drop, were walloped by Bingley Congs III at Sandy Lane, with the latter climbing out of a relegation place as a consequence.

Congs made 261-7 after being sent in, Will Tedder taking 2-21, and Sutton were then back in the pavilion for 78, as Muhammad Haseeb Khan took sensational figures of 9-29.

Nine-man Keighley III, adrift by 17 points at the bottom, were very much second best at Gargrave II, although they did have them at 8-2 before they recovered to 222-4.

Matt Mounsey, who took those early wickets, ended up with 3-62.

The visitors were then toppled for 95, despite keeper Abid Hussain making a battling 42.

Bradley II, who had a free week, still lead Division Four, being eight points ahead of Bowling Baptists II with a game in hand.

Glusburn II, one of four teams in the hunt to go up, albeit the outsiders, had a high-scoring tie at home to Ingrow II.

Opener Rafaqat Hussain (56) and No.3 Umar Dar (87) gave the hosts a strong start after they won the toss, and there were contributions down the order as they made 260-6.

The wickets were taken by two bowlers - Aaron Pearce (3-51) and Abid Hussain (3-49).

Ingrow also got runs up top, Aryan Chowdhory making 51 and Ateeq Munir scoring 44, but they still needed 82 not out from No.10 Adam Hussain to finish on 260 all out as Mark Pickles took 3-54 and the Glusburn Hussain managed 3-57 after his earlier half-century.

Airedale II are best of the rest in fifth on 133 points after defeating basement boys Hepworth & Idle III at the Airedale Oval.

Only two visiting players made double figures in their 76 all out, with Paul Feather taking 4-8 before his side won by seven wickets after 15 overs.

Haworth II were indebted to their captain Chris Smith for making 33 not out in their 107-9, but it was not enough as visitors Menston V won by six wickets in just 11 overs.

James Wilkinson had a red-letter day for Long Lee II, scoring 128 not out as he dominated their innings of 210-6 at Golden View.

That knock was made even more extraordinary given the fact he had not played a competitive game of cricket for nine years.

And on a special day for him, he was joined in the team by older brother Paul and father Simon in the starting XI.

Not only that, but one of the family’s younger generation, 11-year-old Jack, was doing the scoring for Long Lee.

The three generations of Wilkinsons at Long Lee on Saturday, after James (right) blasted a century on his return to the crease after nine years away. (Image: UGC.)

Sadly, sport often has no room for sentiment, and promotion-chasing visitors Bowling Baptists II had the measure of Long Lee’s attack, winning by six wickets inside 29 overs, despite Aqib Choudhry taking 2-32.

Denholme II lost by seven wickets at Sandylands to another team with their eyes on the prize, namely Skipton CI II, who dismissed the visitors for 86 after they chose to have first knock, skipper Guy Flanagan dominating proceedings with 52.

That allowed CI to romp to victory in the 21st over, Lee Swidrak (3-30) claiming all of the victims.