Will Martin impressed new side Armitage Bridge as his incredible 79 edged out promotion hopefuls Rastrick as Bridge aim to improve on last term’s third placed finish. Birkby Rose Hill’s impeccable home form continued over from last season as they squeezed out Shelley thanks to a brilliant half century from Khalil Ullah Khan. Thongsbridge thrashed Lascelles Hall with new skipper Ben Balmforth excelling with both bat and ball to get his side off to an important first win. Championship new men Marsden couldn‘t score enough runs, having their wings clipped by Denby who had debutant Hashir Khan in fine form.
Armitage Bridge secured a hard-fought victory against Rastrick by 9 runs in a tense encounter to get their campaign off to the best possible start. Armitage Bridge batted first and managed to put up a total of 127, anchored by Will Martin’s splendid 79. Rastrick new boy Nadim Hussain bagged 5-43 on debut following his switch from Moorlands. Despite a modest total, they managed to defend it well, thanks to some disciplined bowling by Connor Parr in particular. The Yorkshire Academy prospect collected 5-8 off 8.3 miserly overs as Rastrick faltered in their chase and were eventually bowled out for 118 runs in 38 overs.
Birkby Rose Hill clinched a thrilling victory against Shelley by a single wicket in a closely contested match. Chasing a target of 144 runs, Birkby Rose Hill found themselves in a pickle on 69-7 but managed to scrape through with just one wicket remaining with Muhammad Afridi taking 5-38. Khalil Ullah Khan’s painstaking 52no anchored Birkby’s pursuit. Shelley had earlier posted a total of 143-8 with Kirin Green (43) top scoring.
An instant return to the Premiership is on the cards for Thongsbridge who delivered a dominant performance to secure a convincing 133-run statement victory away at hapless Lascelles Hall.
Batting first, Thongsbridge posted a formidable total of 180 runs for the loss of 8 wickets thanks to a solid 65 run partnership between captain Ben Balmforth (38no) and Tom Raven-Hill (34). In response, Lascelles Hall struggled to cope with Thongsbridge's fierce bowling attack and were bundled out for just 47 runs in 24.3 overs. Balmforth shone with 6-13 with new signing Adnan Ghani taking 2-4 in 8 overs.
Denby emerged victorious with a comfortable 7-wicket win over newly promoted Marsden. Marsden batted first and managed to score 118 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in a shortened 30 overs match with Stevie Butters Jnr leading with 35. However, Denby chased down the target convincingly, reaching 121 runs for the loss of 3 wickets with 8 overs left spearheaded by keeper batsman Hashir Khan’s unbeaten on 56.
The match between Meltham and Slaithwaite was abandoned with both teams sharing 2 points each as was Mirfield Parish’s visit to Linthwaite.
