Rastrick’s Jordan Ghani hauled down Denby who slid off the rails and out of the promotion places. Golcar seized their chance by dismantling Shelley and Slaithwaite tumbled down to fifth with a heavy loss away at Clayton West. Top side Delph & Dobcross trundled on, increasing their lead to six points, by mauling Lascelles Hall.
Jordan Ghani (above) tore through Denby’s redoubtable batting lineup to fire Rastrick up to fourth. The former Marsden man bagged his best first team return ever of 7-39 as Denby misfired chasing Rastrick’s moderate 185ao. Shrikant Wagh made 63 under constant harassment by Denby skipper Tom Sanders, who took 6-54, with Sanboj Wijetunde taking 4-19. However the loss of Wijetunde for 39 swung the match in the visitors’ favour leaving Ghani and Wagh (2-39) to run through Denby’s tail for a remarkable 42 run win.
Golcar took advantage of Denby’s misstep to move into second place; six points behind leaders Delph & Dobcross, with a home conquest over struggling Shelley. Steve Whitwam (above) gracefully compiled 115 with an array of high-class strokes in a 140-ball stay, picking off 15 fours and 3 sixes. Ryan Adams added 34 as Golcar put up 235ao with Faisal Usman taking four wickets for the visitors. Whitwam let his teammates finish things off with the ball as Jay Cyrus (5-42) led the way with his best performance of the season and captain Jack McNamara claimed three wickets as Shelley surrendered on 76ao.
Classy left-arm spinner Nayyar Abbas (above) took four wickets to make it 31 scalps for the season as Lascelles Hall were easily seen off by promotion hunting Delph & Dobcross. Joel Barnett top scored with 30 for visiting Hall and Delph’s Lancashire starlet Lucas Selby continued to impress by taking 4-21 as they were dismissed for 91. Selby oversaw their seventh win by making an unbeaten 31 as Delph got into T20 mood with a swift 95-3 inside 15 overs.
Slaithwaite plummeted to fifth with a heavy defeat away at Clayton West, who pulverised the visiting bowlers on their way to 277-9. Skipper Alex Clegg hit 68 but experienced all-rounder David Swann (49, above) squandered a half-century, as did Richard Dennis (47). Slaithwaite’s reply was left in tatters when they capitulated to 50-6 as Adam Rollin put in a searing shift with the ball. He took 7-56 and Australian Marcus Bean chipped in with two wickets as the away side were bowled out for 201. Slaithwaite men Alex Walker (69no) and Harrison Quarmby (47) restored some pride in their 201ao.
In-form Birkby Rose Hill were dealt a harsh lesson at Armitage Bridge who waltzed to an eight wicket victory. Khalil Khan made a 70 ball half century for Birkby who set 184-8 with Musa Ahmed (above) taking 4-44, but Armitage Bridge’s batsmen were in a bullish mood as they comfortably chased with a 185-2 reply. Chris Dennison (47) set the tone and Steve Cawood (58no) and Jaycob Curtling (40no) finished the job with ease.
The bottom two enjoyed a compelling bunfight with Holmfirth holding off Meltham by just 8 runs in a high-scoring contest. Seb Allen frustratingly checked out on 99 and Andy Grey’s 48 (above) provided the cornerstone of Holmfirth’s 265-7 total with Khuram Sajjad and Ibrar Hussain both taking three wickets apiece. Meltham opener Mark Askham almost won it for his side with a sublime 133 until he was out just 35 runs shy of their target. 21 fours and 5 sixes were clattered as Meltham desperately hunted the win and Carson Willis made a round fifty. Sam Roberts (3-33) was the best of the Holmfirth bowlers from a pack regularly shuffled by Holmfirth skipper Gareth Myers. Australian Kye Zanardi (2-32) took out the final two Meltham men who finished narrowly short on 257ao.
