BRYAN Freimanis, the epitome of a durable opener, made hay in the September sunshine on the penultimate weekend of the Mewies Solicitors Craven League.

The veteran batsman made 81 not out as Crossflatts II scored 166-2 at Long Lee in their Covid Regional Competition Group D encounter.

Freimanis hit 11 fours and a six in his 105-ball knock and put on 142 for the second wicket with Josh Addy, whose 72 contained eight fours and three sixes and lasted 93 balls.

Long Lee were 37-6 in reply but managed to reach 107, courtesy of skipper Stephen Butterfield's 30 at No 9 and No 8 Mohammed Ishtiaq (20), with Tom Gill (10) being the only other player to reach double figures.

Mark Pennington (4-13), Haseeb Basit (3-20) and Vijay Amirtharaj (2-11) had put Long Lee on the back foot.

Elsewhere, Matthew Sharp is proving a good signing for Eldwick & Gilstead.

The all-rounder, seldom out of the game, scored 50 opening for the twin villages in their 130-7, backed up by Deependra Rathore (24), as Habib Aslam (2-29) and Mohammed Gulnawaz (2-34) made life difficult.

Mohammed Kamran (33) gave Riddlesden a chance in reply, as did Gulnawaz (21), Bilal Bashir (17) and Aslam (15), but they were the only four to trouble the scorers to any degree as their side were dismissed for 113, with Sharp taking 4-16, and Andrew Stephenson and James Keighley 2-38.

Oakworth III captain Keith Gilert proved obdurate with the bat, scoring 16 not out in their 69-6 off 35 overs against Haworth II in Group F.

Wicket-keeper Steve Cox (10) was the only other player in double figures as Tom Rowell took 3-25, with the other three wickets being run-outs.

Haworth were in a hurry in their reply, winning by eight wickets off the last ball of the 11th over, with under-14 loanee Jacob Stephens making 29 not out and opener Neil Rollins 20, with Jacob Davies (2-32) taking the only wickets to fall.

Runs were easier to come by at Glusburn, where the home side made 184-4 against Sutton.

Keeper Pete Schofield (52) and opener and skipper Matt Lloyd (43) led the way, backed up by Steve Brown (30) and Martyn Dalby (40no), who was on loan from Cowling.

Sutton were struggling to reach three figures in their reply when they were 80-8 but No 8 Richard Walker (27no) helped them to 122, aided by the earlier efforts of opener Tony Walton (32) and, in the middle order, Alistair Wallace (18).

Four bowlers did the main damage - Mark Desgranges (3-23), Mark Pickles (2-22), Brown (2-23) and Iain Beattie (2-37).

A batting collapse occurred at Cononley in Group E, where the hosts went from 61-1 to 90 all out, a downturn that was precipitated by swing bowler Michael Scarborough (6-11) and leg-spinner Jack Davison (3-12) for Oakworth II.

Opener Scott Brook (31) and No 3 Nathan Parker (22) did the best for the home side with the bat, but they needn't have worried that their total was too small as their second-string visitors were rolled over for just 56.

Lucas Keslinke (16) and Davison (15) were the only two to get to double figures as Anthony Haigh (3-10), Tom Feather (3-18), Harry Parker (2-6) and Lewie Fitton (2-21) proved a potent quartet.

In-form Caspar Bean might be wishing the season is not drawing to a close as the Embsay II opener made 67 at home to Bradley II in Group G.

He found allies in Tom Bailey (26) and Sam Arkwright (21) as the hosts totalled 129-6, with under-16 Toby Meynell (2-17) again doing well with the ball, Donnacha Washington returning the same figures.

Bradley II, who fielded eight juniors, were then dismissed for 56, half of which were scored by the elder Meynell, whose younger brother Henry was unable to bat due to a hand injury, suffered when he stopped a ball off his own bowling.

Arkwright (3-23) and Hammaad Hussain (2-16) were the main wicket-takers.