Haworth down in Craven League as Silsden title hopes back on

They have won only one match all season, and their fate was sealed a month early after a defeat by leaders Gargrave at West Lane.

Haworth won the toss and made a decent 195-3, with James Roper (59) and Pete Gower (67) putting on 73 for the first wicket, with Roper the dominant partner.

Gower, whose runs came off 140 balls, then went on to add 92 for the second wicket with Hassan Mughal, who scored 52.

But the slow going came back to haunt them, as Gargrave won by five wickets in the 34th over, despite Damian Rowell taking 3-45.

Haworth are 61 points behind Bradley, who are third from bottom, with only 60 points available.

Bradley are not safe either though, as Wilsden’s resurgence means that they are only 24 points ahead of them.

Bradley sent fifth-placed Riddlesden in at Grange Road and saw them make 264-9, with all of the top seven scoring double figures.

Leading the way was skipper Mohammed Gulnawaz, who hit 78 off 64 balls, including eight fours and three sixes.

Iklaq Ahmed (2-19) and Vince Grant (2-11) were the best of seven bowlers used by Bradley.

The visitors replied with a respectable 196, largely thanks to Akeel Rashid, whose 94 came off 73 balls.

Mohammed Zulfiqar took those first three wickets and the last two on the way to 5-41, as Bradley were dismissed in the 39th over.

Cowling’s title challenge has faded as they have lost four of their last five matches to drop to sixth, their latest setback coming at home to Wilsden.

Sent in by the visitors, Cowling were back in the pavilion inside 31 overs having made just 78.

Wilsden knocked off the runs in the 16th over for the loss of three wickets, making it three wins in succession, giving themselves hope of avoiding relegation, and they host Haworth next.

Glusburn, who are seventh, became the latest victims of Hepworth & Idle after making 187.

The hosts were 37-3 after being sent in, but Abrar Sarwar instigated a fine recovery, hitting 16 fours in his 85.

The Westfield Laners were 27-4 after tea but partnerships of 90 and 63 unbroken took them to a five-wicket win in the 40th over, as they climbed from third to second.

There was a top-of-the-table battle in Division Two, and second-placed Silsden’s defeat of leaders Bowling Baptists - their first loss of the season - has put the destination of the silverware back in doubt.

Hosts Silsden won the toss and batted, which looked like a mistake when they were 68-6, despite Cameron Knowles scoring 36.

However, the Cobbydalers had the men for the moment in Rob Jones (69) and captain Jack Roberts (68), who put on 133 for the seventh wicket to help boost the score to 219.

Baptists were then dismissed for 126, Will Pullen running through the tail to finish with 5-19.

The gap between the two is now only 15 points with three matches left.

Third-placed Sutton, who are 44 points behind the Manningham side, were the latest team to take advantage of Skipton CI’s flaky batting at Sandylands.

The hosts won the toss but were back in the pavilion in 22.1 overs with just 46 on the board.

Three Sutton bowlers shared the wickets, with Richard Walker bagging 4-28, Sachin Abraham 3-7 and Aneesh Babu 3-9.

Skipper Dave Snowden then saw Sutton to a seven-wicket win inside 11 overs by scoring 28 not out.

Dave Snowden took control of a simple chase to see Sutton to a big victory. (Image: Andy Garbutt.)

Assuming that Hepworth & Idle II are going down, and they are 36 points adrift at the bottom, the battle to avoid the other demotion berth is very tight, with between CI, Cononley and Ingrow.

Ingrow easily saw off Cononley on Saturday at the Sports Ground, making 222-8 after being sent in, Ben Weatherall scoring 68.

His runs came off 102 balls and included 13 fours, with Scott Brook taking 4-80.

But other than captain Harry Parker (41no), Cononley’s reply was a mess, as they were skittled for 70 in 26.1 overs.

Alex Frye (5-19) and Atif Malik (4-34) did most of the damage.

Airedale won their derby at home to Denholme to stay fourth.

Denholme won the toss and batted, but could only score 136, the major contributors being Adam Vaux (31) and captain Adam Taylor (33) as the wickets were shared between Ijaz Shah (5-20) and Scott Whittam-Ritchie (5-39).

Airedale then stormed to a six-wicket win in the 28th over, Raja Mohamad Adnan scoring 23, Mathew Cox 26 and Younis Shahzad 25.  

Long Lee received a walkover by Keighley III to stay top of Division Three, but Silsden may have to put their hopes for a double promotion on hold as their second XI dropped from second to third after a poor display at Gargrave II.

The Cobbydalers only made 76 after being asked to bat, with Finlay Nixon-Snowden easily the best of four players in double figures with 31 as Dom Kay (4-13) and Kieran Ashley (3-10) cashed in.

Sixth-placed Gargrave then won by seven wickets in the 22nd over.

Cowling II are in the other promotion berth behind Long Lee after a nicely-timed five-wicket win at seventh-placed Sutton II, who made 155-7 after being sent in.

Captain Rob Tedder led by example, scoring 67 off 87 balls, as Ubaid Rauf took 3-30.

Cowling were 21-2 but captain Sajid Shafait (35no) and Rauf (23no), who put on 89 unbroken, took them home with two overs to spare.

Harry Andrews had a red-letter day for Division Four leaders Bradley II at home to Long Lee II.

He scored 143 off just 114 balls, including an impressive nine sixes, as they made 235-1 after being sent in.

Fellow opener Chris Kimberley finished on 57 not out, before Long Lee were then rolled over for 111, as Hamza Ayub (5-20) starred with ball in hand.

Things had looked promising for Long Lee when Ben Stowell (27) and Ben Pennington (47) put on 50 for the opening wicket, but they collapsed from there.

Glusburn II, who are fourth, were at Denholme II, making 162-9 after winning the toss.

Rafaqat Hussain (49) was the main man in their innings, as Denholme skipper Guy Flanagan took 5-18.

Captain Mark Pickles then took 5-13 as Denholme were toppled for 97, although they had been 62-2, largely thanks to opener Jack Harrison (36).

Liam Gillard, captain and keeper of Ingrow II, played a stellar innings as they defeated Airedale II.

Veteran opener Tim Crossley scored 52 for Airedale after they won the toss, but the real impetus came from skipper Asher Nutting’s 82 not out, as Sufyaan Hussain took 6-64.

But that innings was put in the shade by Gillard, whose unbeaten 126 swept Ingrow to a five-wicket win in just the 29th over.

Sixth-placed Haworth were no match for Menston IV, who are eighth, at High Royds.

Sent in, Haworth were dismissed for 109 after 26 overs, despite 50 not out from Chris Smith and Menston won by seven wickets in the 23rd over.