Prolific Shepley opener Dan Wood slammed a memorable century at Moorlands to complete a brilliant run chase that plunged their opponents towards danger at the bottom of the table. Delph’s Mosun Hussain also racked up a fine ton to secure a valuable win away at Broad Oak to narrow the gap between them and second-bottom Armitage Bridge who suffered defeat at home to Thongsbridge. Meanwhile, second-placed Scholes were snubbed at Honley, third, to lose ground on leaders Hoylandswaine.
Moorlands locked onto a lofty total of 273-7 at home to Shepley but it wasn’t enough as the visitors came roaring back to tick off an eye-catching triumph. Moorlands trio Gharib Nawaz (88), Shoukat Ali (66) and Eddie Walmsley (59no) piled on the runs for last season’s Premiership runners-up but the mojo they rode the crest of seems to have escaped them this term as they slumped to their second consecutive loss. Craig Glover claimed his 25th wicket with 3-63 and brother Danny held his nerve to hit the winning runs in the penultimate over of the match. However, without Dan Wood’s sublime 120no, Shepley wouldn’t have been in the frame as Wood (pictured above) stubbornly hung around from start to finish hitting 13 fours and 2 sixes in his 126-ball stay. Max Joice made a brisk 57 to keep tabs on the jittery hosts and with 24 runs required from the last three overs Danny Glover took over. Former Shepley man, Nadim Hussain went for 11 at the hands of his former teammate in the 48th and then Glover (25no) displayed icy calmness to dispatch a six and two fours off Eddie Walmsley in the penultimate over to pip Moorlands.
Mosun Hussain (pictured above) crafted a classy ton to hand Delph a precious win away at a below-par Broad Oak. The first innings was dominated by Delph bowlers Adnan Ghani (3-42) and Nayyar Abbas (3-27) but Oak recovered well from 78-8 to finish 174-8 thanks to a sparkling innings from Matty Butters. The experienced former Marsden keeper-batsman showed extreme patience to see off Delph’s star men before setting about the young bowlers as he finished the innings on 83no. Hussain, who had hammered 88 runs in a high scoring midweek T20 fixture, gave away few chances in his stylish 127-ball 118no as he punished Oak’s bowlers. The former England U19 player hit 14 fours and 3 maximums as he dominated with Harry Partington (23), playing a supporting role. Delph’s much-needed win moves them to within 12 points from safety.
Skelmanthorpe replaced Kirkburton in the bottom three as they crashed to a loss at Riley Lane, their second subjugation there in a week. Sam Wigglesworth’s 83 helped Kirkburton amass 263-9 as the hosts got about Skelmanthorpe’s bowling with Syed Rizvi (4-81) and Paul Cummins (4-74) suffering for their cause. Rizvi then bludgeoned a 61-ball 101 batting at eight, to keep the game delicately poised before he was dismissed by medium pace bowler Andrew Smith (4-28, pictured above). Kirkburton wrapped up a crucial victory by swiftly claiming the final two wickets to leapfrog Skelmanthorpe and away from the danger zone.
All-rounder Timmy Taylor (pictured above) took five wickets for Honley before crashing an excellent 84 to scupper Scholes in their title chase. Honley outplayed Scholes by bowling them out for 165 thanks to Taylor’s 5-44 with Jeremy Hackett and Pritesh Mistry both claiming a pair each as Scholes’ James Wharton top-scored. Left-hander Taylor accumilated his highest total this term with the bat as Honley denied their opponents crucial bonus points when they replied with 166-4 to move within two points of Scholes in third.
Hoylandswaine’s lead at the top is back to ten points as they handed Almondbury Wesleyan their third straight league defeat. Tom Binns and captain Bryn Jenkins made 73 and 46 respectively in their 225ao, despite Swaine’s lethal strike pair Junaid Khan and Muhammad Azzharullah taking four wickets each. Chris Holliday (pictured above) stormed back into form with a belligerent 91no made from 65 balls as Hoylandswaine hit their straps during the reply. Asif Iqbal (41) and Sarinjer Pal Singh (68no) had earlier laid the foundation of the hosts’ 229-2 before Holliday took the game away from visitors Wes.
Jay Cyrus (pictured above) kept up the searing momentum on Golcar’s impressive purple patch that has fired them up to fifth in the table, having been mired in the relegation zone a month earlier. The young quick bowler bagged his third five wicket haul of the season to end Barkisland’s reply to Golcar’s 200ao prematurely. Steve Whitwam’s half century had earlier been the cornerstone to their innings, with spinner Cameron Van Rensburg helping himself to 5-46, including the one to remove Whitwam. But the league’s record run-scorer turned poacher himself to take out Barkisland dangerman Luke Bridges (77) and pivot the match into Golcar’s favour. Cyrus took care of the rest to leave the hosts short on 163ao.
Ben Howitt (pictured above) stepped forward for his team Thongsbridge to deny second-bottom Armitage Bridge a vital victory in the battle against the drop. Visitors Thongsbridge were bowled out for 159, mainly down to Chris Dennison’s dogged 5-52. Richard Marshall’s 48 in the middle order was significant and with key Thongsbridge bowlers Zafar Iqbal (3-31) and Pragam Sharma (2-40) both out of overs, they turned to right-armer, Howitt. With strugglers Armitage Bridge threatening to snatch a vital win, Howitt (3-16) took the remaining two wickets. The hosts 148ao total at least earned them a couple of bonus points towards their safety goal as the battle at the foot of the table intensifies.
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