Denholme delighted by comeback as Long Lee slip at key time

They were in danger of relegation before his comeback, but since Burkill returned on July 6 they have hauled themselves up to sixth, 33 points above a demotion place and surely now safe.

On Saturday he scored 84 against second-placed Silsden off 118 balls, including 11 fours, to add to his effort of 94 against Skipton CI, while he has also starred with the ball in the last few weeks, taking 4-16 in the victory over Hepworth & Idle II and 5-14 in the one-wicket defeat to Thornton-in-Craven.

His batting average since he returned is a touch above 50, while he taken 14 wickets for 142 at a touch above 10.

Burkill added 96 for the third wicket on Saturday with Adrian Shires (47) as Denholme made 211-8.

Dom Mortimer took 3-44 for Silsden, who could only reply with 138, despite Mohsan Gulbhar scoring 37.

Adam Taylor took 3-21 as Denholme climbed up a place in the table.  

It was only Silsden’s third league defeat of the season but they are still in second place, a healthy 45 points ahead of chasing Sutton.

Sutton moved up to third after winning a thriller by two runs at Ingrow.

The visitors chose to have first knock and were given a fine start by openers Dave Snowden (48) and Sam Solley (35), who put on 59.

Dave Snowden helped Sutton to record a dramatic victory over Ingrow. (Image: Andy Garbutt.)

But from a high-water mark of 109-1, they collapsed to 133-7 before being revived by a partnership of 63 by Sachin Abraham (35) and Caleb Gledhill (27 not out) to reach 197.

Shahar Iqbal bowled outstandingly to take 3-14 off 12 overs, the chief reason for Sutton not quite reaching the magic 200 mark.

Ingrow were looking good at 72-1 after Ben Weatherall made 37, which was backed up by Atif Malik scoring 40.

That helped them reach 192-6 they, but they then lost their last four wickets for three runs to lose by two runs with one ball left, Abraham taking 3-54.

Airedale have dropped from third to fourth after losing by three wickets at eighth-placed Cononley, who thus kept themselves away from the drop zone.

Ijaz Shah struck 33 late in the innings to boost Airedale’s score to 138, with Harry Parker (3-36) and Herbie Starkey (3-29) doing best with the ball.

Cononley were 35-3 before partnerships of 36 and 37 put them in good shape, only for three wickets to fall at 108.

However, Ikram Daulatzai (17no) and Ihsanullah Daulatzia (13no) then added 31 unbroken to see Cononley home in the 34th over, and they are now 16 points ahead of second-from-bottom Ingrow.

In Division One, Riddlesden, who are fifth, lost by three wickets at bottom-of-the-table Wilsden, who thus made it back-to-back wins.

Zafran Ghaffar (53) and keeper Tayyab Ishaq (34) put on 67 for the third wicket in Riddlesden’s 185.

Wilsden were 36-3 but Pete Longley and keeper Majid Jahangir both scored 60 before being dismissed by Mohammed Zulfiqar (3-25) and they won with seven balls left.

Leaders Gargrave made short work of fourth-placed visitors Cowling, dismissing them for 51 on the way to a nine-wicket victory.

That defeat dropped Cowling two places to sixth, and they are now just eight points ahead of seventh-placed Glusburn, who were the latest victims of Haworth Road Meths.

Hosts Glusburn made a horrendous start, being 5-3, before Tamoor Munir struck a blistering 84 off 45 balls, including six fours and eight sixes as his side made 185.

But that was still nowhere near enough, and Meths won by four wickets after 38 of their allotted 45 overs.

Bradley remain eighth after featuring in the first tie of the season in the top flight.

They won the toss at Hepworth & Idle and batted, with Jim Tate grafting through their innings of 145 for 64 not out.

The Westfield Laners had four players in double figures but also ended on 145, as Akeel Rashid claimed 4-26.

Basement boys Haworth were dismissed for 108 at Eldwick & Gilstead after being sent in, with opener James Roper scoring 25 and Jacob Hudson 23.

E&G were 30-3 but recovered nicely to win by five wickets in just 14.1 overs.

The Division Three title now looks like a three-horse race between Long Lee (194 points), Silsden II (185) and Cowling II (184).

Long Lee had a chance to move clear of their rivals when they travelled to Silsden II on Saturday, but they instead suffered a thumping defeat.

Silsden’s decision to field was vindicated when they had Long Lee back in the pavilion for 54 inside 25 overs, collapsing from 38-2 after opener Tom Butterfield made 28.

Alex Nelson (5-22) and Tom Snowden (3-1) were the chief destroyers with ball in hand.

Keenan Wozny then finished on 28 not out as the home side won by eight wickets in the 15th over.

Cowling II made light of a potentially testing encounter at home to fourth-placed Menston IV, who made 147 after winning the toss, which was a big improvement on 46-5.

Ubaid Rauf (3-33) and Haseeb Majid (3-26) kept the visitors’ innings in check, before their teammates got off to a wobbly start.

Both of Cowling’s openers made ducks, but Sajid Shafait (37no) and Reyan Hassan Ali (65no) ensured they recovered from 35-4 with an unbroken stand of 113 to win by six wickets in the 44th over.

Sutton II are seventh after a 47-run victory at cellar dwellers Wilsden II.

Plenty of Sutton players got starts, including 16-year-old opener Jack Middleton, who made an excellent 41, while 20-year-old Charlie Whitaker chipped in with 36.

Wilsden made a fine start and were 68-1, and then 121-4, but they nosedived from there to slip to 146 all out as Ben Middleton took 3-32 and Justin Holdsworth claimed 4-26.

Keighley III conceded to Bradford & Bingley III, and are now level on 98 points with Bingley Congs III, with both in relegation bother.

In Division Four, Bradley II and Skipton CI II are favourites for promotion, although Bowling Baptists II, who won by four wickets at Bradley, are coming up on the rails.

Bradley made 164-7 after winning the toss, with important contributions from Luke Watson (45), Tom Long (27) and No.9 Jack Andrews (25no).

Baptists’ card was solid after tea, with six batters playing themselves in, and they won a fine contest by four wickets with an over to spare.

CI are now only 13 points adrift of Bradley after a convincing victory at home to Airedale II.

The hosts wondered whether winning the toss was such a good idea when they were 30-4, but they totalled 216.

Mark Smith claimed 3-61), while Joe Barraclough bowled only two balls in the innings but took two wickets.

James Haley then scored 56 off 79 balls, but his teammates failed to back him up and they were bundled out for 126.

Glusburn II, who are fourth, also had a solid victory - by 100 runs at Menston V.

The visitors were 19-4 but were revived by Alan Coney (39) and Amir Javed (58no)

Menston lost a shutter of wickets to fall from 45-2 to 50-8 and were dismissed for 73 by Tahir Mehmood (4-8), Umar Dar (3-34) and Steve Poole (2-11).

Long Lee II won a thriller at home to Denholme II, who were dismissed for 93 after winning the toss, but that was more than looked likely when they stuttered from 21-0 to 33-6.

However, captain Guy Flanagan scored 31 and No.10 Lee Swidrak contributed a fine 26 not out, Richard Ayrton having caused mayhem with 6-29.

Long Lee were 77-8 but got over the line by one wicket, which was tough on Flanagan, who had figures of 5-34 to back up his earlier batting display.

Sixth-placed Haworth II dismissed Ingrow II for 95 after sending them in at West Lane.

Ingrow were 15-3 but Abid Hussain (41) helped them to at least post a defendable target.

Matthew Dempster (3-38) and 12-year-old Max Wareing (2-22) starred with the ball for Haworth, Wareing then scoring 21 not out as they won by four wickets inside 20 overs.