Semi-Final underdogs Denby Dale and Upperthong provided upsets to progress to the Oddfellows Cup final. Upperthing’s Daniel Parr’s cool display helped dump out Championship opponents Holmfirth and Liam Greig provided the bedrock of Denby Dale’s exciting victory over Cumberworth; both matches being decided via DLS.
Upperthong 178ao, *Holmfirth 102-5
Daniel Parr kept his cool under a withering Holmfirth inquisition to help book Upperthong into the refreshing distraction of a cup final. Parr’s careful 61 prevented a complete upper order collapse as Holmfirth paceman Mohammed Nabeel (4-26) smashed through the top four batsmen. Will Oakley helped Parr stop the rot by adding 32 to help Upperthing to 178ao. Despite an early loss, Holmfirth were cruising as Ibrar Hussain (39) and Seb Allen (45) put on 87 runs for the second wicket. With thundery showers approaching, Holmfirth’s loss of four wickets for 10 runs, mostly at the hands of Vinnie Jayasuriya (3-1), put them dramatically behind on DLS with rain curtailing play on 102-5.
*Denby Dale 251-7, Cumberworth United 188-7
Liam Greig and Mirza Tehseen put Denby Dale from the Alliance in charge against Conference side Cumberworth United. Greig stroked 65 and Tehseen crashed an outrageous 46 from 28 balls with five sixes disappearing beyond the boundary as Denby Dale set 251-7. Asher Bagadam, who picked up three wickets from the first innings was set nicely on 46 before being dismissed. The loss of wickets as Cumberworth chased hard ultimately proved fatal with DLS looming. Jordan Greaves (38no) and Sam Crompton (22no) began to speed up their momentum as they put 51 runs on together, but it was too little, too late with rain ending the contest on 188-7 with the visitors crucially 16 runs behind the asking rate.
