HAWORTH have made a losing start to the defence of their Craven League Division One crown.
Hosts Ingrow made 192 in a Keighley derby, with Tom Tetley (64) putting on 57 for the fifth wicket with Shahid Ajmal (38) after Ben Weatherall (44) had impressed up the order.
Jacob Stephens (4-33), Damian Rowell (2-26) and James Roper (2-8) did best with the ball for Haworth, but their batting let them down as they could only score 142.
Opener Jamie Rowell bagged half of them, hitting 10 fours and a six, but Stephens (25) was his only major support as the visitors subsided from 96-2, having no answer to the medium-paced swing of Tobias Hartley (8-29), who took the last eight wickets.
Cowling are used to getting more than 200 runs but it wasn’t enough this time as they fell 34 runs short at Hepworth & Idle, who won the toss and made 238-4.
Cowling, who only had 10 men, were dismissed for 204, despite good knocks by Mohammed Shan Usman (64 off 66 balls, including seven fours and two sixes) and Naq Hassan, who ended unbeaten on 95 off 89 balls, which contained three fours and 10 sixes.
Newly-promoted Denholme might light work of Haworth Road Meths, defeating the hosts by eight wickets after dismissing them for 99.
The wickets were shared around, with Ryan Clark taking 3-19, Phil Poole Jnr 2-13, Toby Priestley 2-17 and Ben Burkill 2-22.
Denholme took only 16.4 overs to reach their target, with opener Burkill unbeaten on 29 and Priestley making 28.
Oakworth also shared the victims in their five-wicket triumph at Barrowford, who were back in the pavilion for 100 as Jake Keslinke bagged 3-10, Ellis Marshall 2-15 and Tom Fothergill 2-28.
The visitors were in trouble themselves at 45-5 but an unbeaten stand of 57 between Liam Humphreys (38no) and Marshall (27no) eased their fears.
Sutton made a decent score of 235-5 at home to Gargrave, but even that wasn’t enough as the visitors replied with 237-4 to triumph with three overs to spare.
Defeat was hard on Sutton skipper Sam Solley, who made 113, including 14 fours and three sixes, with support being given by George Elrick (37) and Craig Thornton (21no).
Riddlesden’s bid for successive promotions started well, with a 99-run win over Silsden in Division Two.
Having won the toss, the home side made 186, with opener Mohammed Qadeer hitting 61 and Aftab Khan 25, with most of the wickets falling to Joe Sugden (3-56), Joshua Waind (2-21) and Jack Roberts (2-10).
Only captain Ben Sugden (28) resisted greatly in the reply, however, as Silsden were castled for 87, with Mohammed Zulfiqar bagging 3-25, Khan 3-22 and Mohammed Arshad 2-0.
Long Lee were never in trouble in their victory over Bingley Congs II, making 246-8, with opener Zafran Ghaffar (44) adding 93 for the second wicket with Paul Stowell (50), Matty Stowell making 51 and Richard Ayrton 22.
Batting lightweights Congs II were then dismissed for 128, Mohammed Ishtiaq taking 4-18, Shahbaz Ahmed 2-25 and Ghaffar 2-22.
Bradley’s 147 all out never looked enough once Eldwick & Gilstead started their reply, with the Bradley total being buoyed by No.6 Ibrar Ali’s 68 not out and Matt Buckmaster’s 33.
Toby Meynell (2-43) and George Bell (2-17) shared the four E&G wickets that fell in their successful chase.
It is not usually good news when your No.10 is the highest scorer, and that was the case for Airedale, Stephen Bond leading the way with 23 in their 100 as Irfan Khaliq (4-20) and Tamoor Munir (2-23) cashed in for Glusburn.
Matt Lloyd (46) and skipper Steve Brown (43no) then almost took the hosts to victory with a stand of 80, but Lloyd’s was the only wicket that fell as Glusburn won by nine wickets after 16 overs.
Cononley haven’t had much joy in recent years, so their narrow victory in a Division Three thriller at home to Haworth II is a cause for celebration.
Haworth II made 144-9 after being put in, with opening bat Gareth Griffiths scoring 54 and the next five all making double figures without passing 20.
They collapsed from 127-4, with Harry Parker (2-26), Matthew Calvert (2-19) and Tom Feather (2-40) among the wickets.
Cononley found things equally hard, with only five players in double figures, but crucially Scott Brook made 63 and Parker 27, adding 57 for the fourth wicket as they won by one wicket, despite collapsing from 104-3.
Darren Ellerton (5-42), Danny Spencer (2-67) and Mick Hawkes (2-30) took the wickets.
Blink and you missed Denholme II’s encounter at home to Thornton-in-Craven as the hosts were rolled over for 20 in 15.4 overs, with the innings including only three fours and six ducks.
Samuel Haslam hit two of those fours in top-scoring with 10 as Ian Holden (5-7) and Mark Laycock (5-13) caused carnage.
Thornton-in-Craven then won by 10 wickets, reaching their small target in just 4.2 overs.
Long Lee II mistakenly only batted for 40 overs in making 110-9 at home to Oakworth II, Tom Butterfield starring with 50 not out and Tom Gill making 23 as they stumbled from 70-1.
Subhaan Ahmed took 3-32, Tom Raby 2-14 and Louis Stephens 2-17.
Butterfield (3-17) and Neil Kennedy (3-12) then got among the wickets when Oakworth II batted, but they were seen to a three-wicket win by No.6 Noman Hassan (31no).
Oakworth III and Keighley III used the league’s dispensation for the duo to play on the Sabbath in their Division Four derby at Wide Lane.
Keighley III, sent in, made 175-7, an innings which was dominated by Zahid Bashir, who hit eight fours and a six in his 78, adding 80 for the second wicket with Hrithik Patel (18).
Wajid Hussain (3-30) and Amir Khan (2-43) got among the wickets for Oakworth III, who replied with 176-4 in 31.4 overs, courtesy of Hussain (48no), Khan (24) and Jack Davison, whose 55 not out included nine fours and a six as he added 107 unbroken with Hussain.
Amit Mistry (2-45) was Keighley’s leading bowler.
Sutton II were no match for Bingley Congs III at Sandy Lane, with Laurence Powell taking 2-34 and Ben Seward 2-21 in Congs’ 182-7.
Sutton were then toppled for 63, with captain and keeper Andrew Carrington (18) and Charlie Whitaker (10) the only two to make double figures.
Glusburn II conceded to Airedale II.
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