KEIGHLEY Cricket Club suffered a real blow in their hunt for promotion from Division Two of the Bradford Premier League on Saturday.

It came as a surprise too, as they were beaten by lowly visitors Northowram Fields.

Northowram batted first and Keighley captain Simon Bailey dismissed opposition skipper John Lister after a 66-run opening partnership.

But that was the only wicket Keighley took all afternoon, as opener Abubakar Dawood (131 not out) and Harry Hauenstein (84no) put on an unbeaten 201 together.

The one bright spot for the hosts was that the pair did not score too rapidly, meaning Northowram closed on 267-1 after 50 overs.

Rain delays meant Keighley had to chase a revised target of 248 and they looked well set on 124-1, after top three Mohammad Shahnawaz (48), Zahir Shah (36) and Johandre Barnard (60) all posted good individual scores.

But after that only Amjid Hussain (37) really troubled the scorers, and Keighley closed on 228-8 after their 46 overs, Dawood taking 5-49, as they fell to a 19-run defeat.

Keighley’s seconds had a better afternoon, beating Northowram’s reserves by 30 runs in the Reserves Second XI Division Two competition.