A half-century by Altaf Hussain maintained Birkby Rose Hill’s impressive 100% home record as they saw off Shelley. Delph & Dobcross nicked a superb tussle with promotion hopefuls Armitage Bridge as Golcar swept Holmfirth aside with clinical ease. Denby got back to winning ways with success at Meltham with Lascelles Hall doing the double over Slaithwaite whilst Clayton West sank further into the mire with a loss at home to Rastrick.
Altaf Hussain’s half-century had third-placed Birkby Rose Hill with the whip hand at home to Shelley. Hussain (above) was run out for 50 but Mohammed Hamdaan hit 44 in Birkby set 177-4 from a reduced 30 overs. Shelley will rue over 40 extras, frittered away in the first innings and they wilted during the reply by being bowled out for 122. Kirin Green’s departure, dismissed for 28, sparked an alarming collapse as they fell from 106-4 to 122ao. Sagar Sharma (32) was a victim as Mohammad Munsaf claimed 4-42 to maintain his side’s perfect home record.
Arman Hussain’s (above) superb 5-46 was key to a wholesome Delph & Dobcross victory at Armitage Bridge; a performance brimming with contributions throughout their young side. Captain Nathan Jones scored 31 at the top of the order but big-hitting youngsters Isaac Jones and Isaac Davis hammered matching scores of 25 in the lower order to set 176-9 from 37 overs. Hussain’s removal of Jaycob Curtling (44) was a turning point in a riveting match that ebbed and flowed. Armitage Bridge lost Alex Blagborough for 54, just as the rain curtailed the match leaving the home side 12 runs bereft on DLS.
Bowlers Jay Cyrus (above) and Steve Whitwam bedevilled rock-bottom Holmfirth who were bowled out for 92 at home to second-placed Golcar. Cyrus took 4-28 and Whitwam clinically hoovered up a tenderised Holmfirth tail to finish with 4-22 in a decidedly one-sided affair. Zac Hurley’s 36no and James Howson, returning to first team duties after a long injury absence, scored 37no as Golcar responded with a slightly reduced DLS score of 84-0.
Lascelles Hall professional Marlon Rodrigo (above) hammered an unbeaten 90 and sneaked two wickets as they recorded a double over Slaithwaite at Hill Top. Rodrigo laid a platform for Joel Barnett (66) to shine as Hall set an imposing 221-6 from 35 overs. Slaithwaite youngster Kris Turton impressed with 49 but they were out of the hunt and 76 runs short thanks to Rodrigo’s 2-33 and Tom Addy who collected 5-39.
Denby ended a four match losing streak by beating Meltham at Mean Lane. Mark Askham and Ibrar Hussain claimed four wickets each as Denby set 207-9 from 44 overs with Faisal Javed (53) and Kaleel Ahmed (47, above) top scoring for Denby. Meltham’s ask was reduced to 185 from 36 overs but they were restricted to 165-7 with Tom Sanders picking up 3-28.
Adam Shaw put relegation-threatened Clayton West under the screw as Rastrick returned with six points. The visiting bowler bagged 6-37 as Clayton West’s victory hopes were dashed after they were dismissed for 135 chasing 163-6. Former New Rover man, Fahid Rehman (above) earlier made 63 opening the batting for Rastrick.
