Sandal 169-9

Keighley 170-7

KEIGHLEY will look to secure a cup double after sealing a place in the Jack Hampshire Cup final following a three-wicket win over Sandal.

Keighley, freshly re-instated back in the cup, entertained Sandal in Sunday's semi-final, after their quarter final opponents Brighouse had been expelled from the competition due to fielding an ineligible player.

Sandal got off to a confident start, which saw openers Karl Hewitt and Ian Shuttleworth put on 59 for the first wicket until the former was removed 16 by Nathan Storton.

This did not affect the impressive Shuttleworth, however, and he found a further partner in Matthew Westwood, who put on 52 for the second wicket until Adam Greenwood had Westwood caught for 27.

At 111-2, Sandal were poised to make a big total, however, Westwood’s wicket signalled a collapse and accurate bowling from Ben Jagger (4-24) ripped through Sandal’s middle and lower order and the away team eventually closed on 169-9 in their allotted 40 overs.

Keighley’s openers, Adam Smith (26) and Richard Gould (31), got off to a swift start and the home side posted 58 in the first 10 overs.

But accurate Sandal bowling slowed down the run rate, which in turn saw several batters lose their wicket with uncharacteristic errors.

In the end, though, the Lawkolme Laners just had too much in the tank for their opponents and skipper Paul Quinlan (30), Greenwood (21) and Johnny Wilkinson (20 not out) saw Keighley home by three wickets in the 36th over.

Keighley have already won the JW Lees T20 Trophy this season and will now look to double their tally in the final against Bowling Old Lane at Carlton Cricket Club on August 19.

Meanwhile, Keighley travelled to Birstall in a pivotal game in the Bradford Premier League Championship Two.

With Keighley top and Birstall a threatening third, Birstall skipper Ian Carradice won the toss and elected to bat on a well-maintained surface.

Birstall’s veteran opener Eric Austin took advantage of the good batting conditions, he formed good partnerships with Carradice (16), Peter Gregersen (30) and Matthew Dyson (15) and at one point the home side were looking to compile a total of in excess of 275.

However, the introduction of Nathan Storton (2-20) and Abe Kenny (1-24) into the attack managed to stem the flow of runs, which in turn led to several Birstall mistakes.

This gave Quinlan the opportunity to re-introduce himself and Greenwood to attack the Birstall middle and lower order resulting in Quinlan removing Austin for 89 and eventually bowling Birstall out for 225 in the 47th over. Quinlan finished with 4-43 and was backed up by Greenwood with 3-65.

Keighley’s reply got off to a bad start losing Adam Smith in the first over. However, vice-captain Max Davidson found a partner in 17-year-old Louis Horsfield and the pair put on 48 for the second wicket until Davidson ran himself out for 22.

Keighley managed to forge further partnerships around Horsfield and impressive knocks of 28 from Greenwood and 38 from Richard Gould managed to keep Keighley in touch with the run rate but at 165-5 there was still much to do.

This brought to the crease Storton and his quickfire 40no from 38 deliveries helped Horsfield (78no) and Keighley over the line with two overs to spare at 228-5, giving the Lawkholme Laners maximum points in the match.

The victory keeps Keighley at the top of the table, a nine-point advantage over Wakefield St Michaels, who have a game in hand.

Meanwhile, Keighley’s seconds faced Birstall seconds at Lawkholme, keen to put in a better performance after losing the previous fixture in June.

Skipper Alex Towler won the toss and elected to bowl first.

The league leaders were in a ruthless mood and with a combination of tight bowling and excellent fielding, the Birstall innings was never given the chance to flourish and they slumped to 96 all out. Pick of the Keighley bowlers was Ash Robinson with figures of 4-31, which included a hat-trick.

Keighley started their chase of a modest total in nervy fashion losing two early wickets. Towler joined Ahtasham Raza out in the middle and the senior pair were able to calm proceedings with a watchful partnership of 47 against some tight Birstall bowling.

This led to three more quick wickets for just 13 runs and suddenly Birstall had a sniff of victory with the home side teetering on 64-5. However, Robinson (14no) and Azeem Hussain (18no) showed steel in their batting display and saw Keighley home to a five-wicket victory.