THE battle between the Timothy Taylor’s Craven League champions of the past two seasons proved very one-sided.
Riddlesden, winners in 2023, chose to bat at home to Gargrave and scored 208, Will Smith (3-30) and Bradley Gardner (4-18) taking the majority of the wickets.
Skipper Smith then scored 27, but he was only one of three visiting batters to reach double figures as they were dismissed for 73 inside 27 overs, Riddlesden going top of the fledgling table.
Silsden are off the mark in the top flight, winning a close match at Airedale.
The Cobbydalers opted to bat and made 200, the aggressive Joshua Waind (79 off 62 balls, including 10 fours and three sixes) and Tom Leach (21) setting the platform with an opening stand of 60.
Rob Jones’ 42 in the middle order was handy too, and Airedale got close at 183-7 via a wagging tail, having been 74-6, Kieran Lawrence bagging 3-36.
Bowling Baptist, promoted alongside Silsden, were handed a harsh lesson at Cowling, who had two centurions in their 286-4 after winning the toss.
Opener Danish Hameed (53) scored more than half of Cowling’s runs before he was dismissed at 101, but the real impetus came from captain Martyn Dalby and overseas Levi Falvey, batting at five and six.
They put on 166, with Dalby being dismissed for exactly 100 off 106 deliveries, which contained 11 fours and two sixes.
Falvey was much quicker, ending unbeaten on 108 from just 59 balls, cracking 14 fours and six sixes.
After tea, Baptist were 82-1, but Laiq Ur Rehman (6-33) triggered a collapse from 137-4 to 154 all out, Dalby chipping in with 2-33.
Glusburn notched a rare bird – winning by 10 wickets at Hepworth & Idle, who were dismissed for 162 after being sent in, Irfan Khaliq (4-33), Chris Longley (3-40) and Abdullah Qureshi (3-30) sharing the wickets.
Then Matt Lloyd, but particularly Brad Juliff, took centre stage as the target was passed without loss inside 31 overs.
Lloyd ended on 42 not out, Juliff just missing out on a ton with 97 not out from 77 deliveries, hitting 14 fours and four sixes as Glusburn rose to fourth.
Bradley went down by five wickets at home to Eldwick & Gilstead, not really cashing in on winning the toss by only making 144.
That was largely down to keeper Juni Ashraf (24), Toby Meynell (31) and Akeel Rashid (44), with the latter putting on 53 for the fourth wicket.
Bradley used seven bowlers in the second innings, the most successful of which were Vince Grant (3-26) and Meynell (2-20) as the twin villages won in the 31st over, with Bradley now sitting at the bottom of the table two games in.
In Division Two, Silsden II are second after dismissing visitors Cowling II for 90, opener Mohammad Arshad (30) and Irfan Ishaq (21) making the only significant contributions.
Four bowlers took wickets, with Ben Sugden (4-16) leading the way before scoring 39 as his team won by six wickets.
Sutton captain David Snowden carried his bat through the innings, ending on 104 not out as they made 240-6 after being sent in at Wilsden.
He faced 133 deliveries and bagged 13 fours and three sixes, adding 80 for the third wicket with keeper Ollie Gledhill (54) and 53 for the sixth with Sam Smith (24).
Understrength Wilsden, generally hampered by players at Bradford City, at university and at a wedding in Pakistan, were then dismissed for 69 inside 22 overs, Josh Gill taking 6-25, Smith 2-8 and Richard Walker 2-34.
Skipton CI used seven bowlers at home to Haworth, Muhammad Nabeel (3-24) being the most successful.
The Brontelanders were grateful for a last-wicket stand of 59, which took them up to 175 as they only won by one run.
Keeper Naveed Hussain made 67 opening up for CI, but the game looked up for them at 108-8, only for No 9 Qamar Zulfqar (33no) and No 10 Tanveer Hussain (17) to put on 50 for the ninth wicket, a last-wicket stand of 16 then taking the Sandylanders oh so close.
Thornton-in-Craven’s batting failed at home to Denholme as they were dismissed for 106 after winning the toss, captain Mark Laycock (25) and No 10 Joe Wolfe (22) helping them to three figures after they had been 15-5.
A solid Denholme card then took them to a seven-wicket victory in the 26th over, every batter reaching double figures.
In Division Three, Cononley won a low-scoring affair at Gargrave II, making 119 after being sent in.
Scott Brook (32) and keeper Will Oakden (25) put on 49 for the first wicket, but Cononley then lost five wickets for five runs, including four at 72, before Tom Feather’s 21 helped over the ton.
Kieran Ashley (11.2-4-13-7) and Will Storr (3-34) bagged all the wickets, but Gargrave suffered even more with the bat, being dismissed for 95, losing three wickets with the score on 88.
It had all looked so promising when opener Neil Fraser-Dibb (17) and Ben Wood (36) had put on 49 for the second wicket, but only Storr (18) made double figures after that as Matthew Calvert (6-19) and Feather (3-29) weaved their magic.
Sutton II won a decent contest at home to Skipton CI II, who made 186 after winning the toss.
No 4 Tariq Ghani (65no) and Jibin Jacob (30) added 61 for the fourth wicket, but there was little after that until captain Matt Ryder (10) and Rashad Mahmood Taj (14) put on 28 for the last wicket to boost the score to 186.
New-ball pair Sam Stoneman (4-31) and Caleb Gledhill (2-38) were the most successful of seven bowlers used by Craig Thornton, and the latter, who made 21, then featured in an opening stand of 64 with Jack Middleton (72).
His runs came at almost a run a ball and contained 12 fours and a six before he was out at 122.
Charlie Whitaker (11) and Will Tedder (35) then put on 42 for the sixth wicket and Sutton won by three wickets in the 38th over, Darren Pighills taking 3-57.
Bradford & Bingley, who had 15 players watching Bradford City, were unable to field a third XI at home to Bradley II.
Glusburn II made it a club double of wins, defeating visitors Airedale II by 143 runs in Division Four.
The hosts had a solid-looking card in making 249-9 from their 40 overs, Rafaqat Hussain (37) and Umar Dar (81) taking the limelight with a second-wicket partnership of 116.
Dar’s runs came off 76 balls and contained 13 fours and two sixes, and five other players made double figures, despite them losing three wickets for one run in the middle order.
Gulistan Khan (3-17), Tahir Mehmood (3-7) and Amir Javed (2-17) then held sway with the ball as Airedale were back in the pavilion for 106, Glusburn rising to second in the table.
Article courtesy of
Source link
