TWO years after finishing rock bottom of Division One in the Timothy Taylor’s Craven League, Sutton are back in the top flight.
After finishing fourth in Division Two last season, the men from Royd Hill have clinched promotion alongside Haworth, who were relegated last season.
Advertisement
As far as the silverware goes, Sutton are two points ahead of Haworth with two weekends to go, with both teams having to play Long Lee.
Sutton won the toss and batted at Cowling II, with skipper David Snowden (69 off 80 balls, including eight fours and two sixes) and Sam Solley (48 off 57, including six fours and two sixes) almost adding to their list of century partnerships, Solley being trapped lbw with the score on 97.
Keeper Ollie Gledhill (59 off 49, including 10 fours and a six) then added 91 with Laurence Powell (40no), who put on 44 with Josh Gill (27), Avijeet Ghosh (3-38) being the last and most successful of the eight bowlers used by Majid Iqbal.
Advertisement
Cowling made a poor start after tea, being reduced to 35-4, but Irfan Ishaq (24) and Iqbal (40) then put on 56, Haseeb Majid coming to the wicket at 108-6 and more than doubling their score after scoring 67 off 48 balls, a quarter of which went to the boundary (10 fours, two sixes).
They finished on 217, Ghosh (22no) completing a fine match with a last-wicket stand of 91 with Majid, Sam Smith taking 4-68 and Richard Walker 3-52.
Silsden are almost guaranteed to be the leading second XI in the league after a low-scoring victory at home to Skipton CI, who are second from bottom but have winnable matches against fellow bottom-three sides Cowling II and Denholme.
Advertisement
Half of the CI side were out for 28 after they were inserted, but a patient Zafar Iqbal (36no) put on 63 with Jibin Jacob (35) to get them to the brink of three figures and they finished on 125 as Ben Sugden took 3-31 and Alex Nelson 3-34.
Silsden’s innings went the other way as they were 71-2 but only won by two wickets as Qamar Zulfiqar took 3-29 and Azhar Iqbal 3-40.
Tommy Miller (29) and Lewis Middleton (24) added 47 for the third wicket, and four other players made double-figure scores to get them over the line.
Advertisement
Thornton-in-Craven notched their seventh win of the league season to improve their chances of pinching third from Silsden II, who they visit on the last day of the season.
Ingrow opted to bat at Booth Bridge Lane, but could not cope with David Wolfe (5-28) and Jonny Martin (2-1) and were dismissed for 103.
The home side’s reply was solid as they won by seven wickets in the 32nd over, James Mellin (34) and Ian Holden (39no) adding 67 for the third wicket.
Advertisement
Second-placed Gargrave kept their slim hopes of winning Division One alive by proving the difference between top and bottom.
Sent in at Skipton Road, the home side made 254-3 – an innings that was dominated by Freddie Pearson’s 113 not out, which came from 118 deliveries and contained 11 fours.
He added 53 for the second wicket with Lee Barrett (27), 130 for the third with John Beckwith (57) and 40 unbroken with skipper Will Smith (32no), Beckwith facing 51 balls and hitting three fours and two sixes and Smith just 14 balls, which contained two fours and two sixes.
Advertisement
Baptist were then dismissed for 67 in 23 overs, Joe Wood taking 5-27, Smith 2-7 and Dave Harrop 2-3.
Silsden, who are third, kept the pressure on with a comprehensive win at Glusburn, who were dismissed for 131 after being asked to bat, two partnerships helping them to three figures after they were 42-6.
Irfan Khaliq (31) more than doubled the score with Harry Barker (17no) by adding 48, the latter then putting on 31 with No 10 Abdullah Qureshi (22 off nine balls, including two fours and two sixes).
Advertisement
Ahsan Rizwan (4-19) took wickets at both ends of the innings, Will Pullen (3-13), who also caused that early collapse, and Kieran Lawrence (3-44) also getting a crop of victims.
Tom Leach scored all 25 runs before the first Silsden wicket fell, but Sam Barraclough (64no) then stirred and put on 111 unbroken with Jack Lister (32no) as victory was achieved in the 25th over.
Cowling lost a low-scoring thriller at Hepworth & Idle, being dismissed for 95 inside 29 overs after winning the toss.
Advertisement
Only Wasim Hussain (35) and Laiq Ur Rehman (11) reached double figures as Jonathan Robinson (3-23) and Jonny Thompson (3-12) held sway.
The Westfield Laners were three down for none, 11-4 and 63-9 but won via an unbroken last-wicket partnership of 35 as Jonathan Robinson finished on 39 not out to defy Ur Rehman (3-11), Junaid Gulnawaz (2-21) and Martyn Dalby (2-34).
Basement boys Bradley went down by 43 runs at leaders Riddlesden, Zain Naeem taking 4-37 and Habib Aslam 3-60 as the hosts made 183.
Advertisement
Only captain Juni Ashraf (41), Jay Griffin (26) and Jamil Hussain (16) then made double figures as Bradley, relegated after two seasons in the top flight, were dismissed for 120, which was a recovery from 23-4.
Gargrave II and Cononley have both been promoted from Division Three, with the former’s lead now down to 20 points after suffering a fifth reverse of the season.
Sent in at Sandy Lane, Gargrave were bowled out by Bradford & Bingley for 119, with four players scoring all but seven of those runs.
Advertisement
Dom Kay made 25 of the first 26, the other being an extra, before Billy Davis (23) added 57 for the fourth wicket with captain Will Storr (34), No 8 Callum Smith then scoring 20.
Bingley lost two wickets at 44 and three more at 52, but were seen to a one-wicket win by James Crossley (28no) and Nos 10 and 11 Irfan Ul Haque (13) and skipper Farhan Khalid (16no) to deny Ben Wood (4-41), Will Storr (2-41) and Rob Storr (2-27).
The win keeps Bingley’s hopes alive of avoiding the drop as they are still bottom, but only eight points behind Bradley II and 12 behind Bowling Baptist II, who they meet at Sandy Lane on Saturday.
Advertisement
Cononley faced Baptist II at Scotchman Road and made 150-9, keeper Will Oakden (20) putting on 74 for the second wicket with skipper Andrew Starkey (69), loanee Joshua Barton and Ikram Daulatzai both scoring 20 in the middle order.
They did go from 140-5, however, but it didn’t matter as the hosts were dismissed for 94, change bowlers Oliver Batey (3-38) and Matthew Calvert (4-21) backing up the good work of Barton (2-7 from seven overs).
Sutton II’s promotion bid ended at home to Menston IV’s, who dismissed the hosts for 126 after they won the toss.
Advertisement
Opener Jack Middleton scored 41 of the first 59 before Charlie Whitaker (24) and captain Rob Tedder added 41 for the fifth wicket, but they lost their last six wickets for only 26 runs.
Menston were 17-2 after tea, but a partnership of 62 set them on the way to a five-wicket victory, Will Tedder taking 2-29 and Whitaker 2-36.
CI II lost at home to Hepworth & Idle II, who made 148-7 after opting to bat, recovering from 48-3 but sliding from 144-4.
Advertisement
Cody Hird (2-58), Aneesh Babu (2-26) and Matt Ryder (32-17) got among the wickets.
Bradley II, who are second from bottom, made a decent fist of things at home to Wilsden II, who made 194-6 after winning the toss, Charlie Andrews taking 2-41 and Nasar Riaz 2-49.
The hosts looked potential winners when they were 127-3 after captain Chris Kimberley (50) had added 66 with Riaz (32), but there was not quite enough after that and Bradley finished on 181-9.
Advertisement
In Division Four, third-placed Glusburn II had a disappointing defeat at Hepworth & Idle III, who made 161-9 after opting to bat, Freddie Pickles taking 3-36, Mark Pickles 2-17 from 10 accurate overs and Sam Britten 2-26.
Glusburn were 122-5 in reply, but lost their last five wickets for just 21 runs to lose by 18, Rafaqat Hussain (28) and Mark Pickles (22) leading their seven double-figure scorers.
Article courtesy of
Source link
