TOBY Priestley has put down an early marker for the innings of the season in the Craven League.
The 25-year-old scored 173 for joint Division One leaders Denholme, dominating their 266-6 at Ingrow after they won the toss and batted.
More minor contributions came from Adrian Shires (37) and skipper Richard Taylor (36).
Adam Marks (65) led the way for the home side, but they were dismissed for 174, with Ryan Clark taking 4-25 and Phil Poole Jnr 3-51.
Bradley Powell has re-joined Oakworth, after a short stint with Crossflatts, and did not take long to make his mark again at Wide Lane.
After visitors Hepworth & Idle were restricted to 128-9, with Harry Hollingsworth taking 3-20 and Charlie Raby 3-31, Powell made an unbeaten 82 as third-placed Oakworth won by 10 wickets.
He hit 10 fours and four sixes, Jake Keslinke playing second fiddle with 35 not out as the target was reached in 21 overs.
Sutton’s innings at Cowling was not without incident as opener David Snowden retired after a blow to the head but came back later in the innings to finish on 59 not out.
Meanwhile, Richard Walker retired with chest pains when he had made 44, Sutton finishing on 209-4.
Cowling paced their reply nicely, winning by six wickets with 11 overs to spare thanks to contributions from Martyn Dalby (49), Mohammed Shah Usman (44) and Naqi Hassan (42no).
Defending champions Haworth were also on easy street, defeating Barrowford by 98 runs at West Lane.
Haworth won the toss and made 199, boosted by a second-wicket stand of 73 between opener Jamie Rowell (65) and keeper Pete Gower (33).
Barrowford were then toppled for 101, with Damian Rowell taking 3-19 and Jamie Rowell 3-30 as Haworth climbed to fourth.
Riddlesden are putting down a strong early case for a second successive promotion.
Division Three champions last year, they are joint top in Division Two with Glusburn, and blew away Long Lee at Grange Road.
Long Lee chose to bat but could only score 90, Shahbaz Ahmed getting a third of those as Mohammed Zulfiqar (5-27) held sway.
Riddlesden took only 15 overs to reach their target for the loss of one wicket, that of Mohammed Kamran (26), as Naveed Hassan finished on 50 not out, which included seven fours and two sixes.
Glusburn are also on maximum points after an equally easy afternoon at Beckfoot Lane.
The visitors won the toss and racked up 252-7, with Matt Lloyd making 55, Iain Beattie 45 and Irfan Khaliq 35 not out.
Congs II were then castled for 117, with Khaliq bagging 5-30 and James Tillotson 3-22.
Airedale are off the mark, beating visitors Foulridge by three wickets in a low-scoring clash.
The Lancastrians were toppled for 97, Josh Coppack taking 4-30, but Airedale needed defiance by Chris Gill (28) and Warren Coppack (29) to triumph.
Another close match was that between Bradley and Barrowford II, with Toby Meynell (31) and Ibrar Ali (22) contributing almost half of Bradley’s 110-9.
Barrowford lost eight wickets in winning as George Bell took 3-28.
Silsden’s batting failed again as they were dismissed for 97 at home to Eldwick & Gilstead, and their score would have been much worse without Mohsan Gulbhar’s 58.
Eldwick & Gilstead won by eight wickets.
After a few years in the doldrums, Cononley have two wins from two matches in Division Three, putting them fourth in the fledgling table.
They dismissed hosts Long Lee II for 71, with Roberta Humphreys (14no) top scoring at No.10.
Harry Parker (4-28) and Tom Feather (3-11) had put the skids under Long Lee’s innings, and Cononley won by eight wickets in 17.1 overs, with Dave Turner scoring 29.
Oakworth II had two of the three highest scorers at Hepworth & Idle II, with skipper Steve Powell making 64 and Noman Hassan 61 not out, but they lost by 26 runs.
The Westfield Laners scored 209-8, Subhaan Ahmed taking 3-63, but Powell and Hassan lacked support in Oakworth’s 183-9 as Yousaf Iqbal took 5-17, including four wickets in four balls.
David Robinson (36) top scored for Haworth II at Thornton-in-Craven in their 122, but they lost by seven wickets.
Denholme II conceded to Wilsden II.
Michael Scarborough’s experience came to the fore for Oakworth III at Glusburn II in Division Four.
He scored an unbeaten 76, adding 106 for the fourth wicket with Wajid Hussain (59) and hitting 13 fours and two sixes as they won by five wickets to go second.
Glusburn, sent in, made 188-6, with opener Mark Johnston scoring 75.
Loanee Andrew Greenwood took 3-43 for Glusburn.
Tony Walton batted through Sutton II’s innings of 136-7, making 74 not out, and his runs proved vital.
Asad Moghal (3-23) and Calum Davies (3-25) were among the wickets for Airedale II, who replied with 115-8, Paul Feather scoring 27.
Ingrow II conceded to Keighley III.
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