Uninspiring Meths struggle to lay a glove on Gargrave

They made it five wins out of seven, with their other two games being abandoned, with a four-wicket victory at home to Haworth Road Meths.

Meths opted to bat, but could only score 136 as Joe Wood (3-34), Matty Simpson (3-13) and Dave Harrop (2-17) got among the wickets.

Opener John Beckwith then anchored the leaders’ reply, scoring 66 not out off 72 balls, including seven fours and a six, and putting on 46 for the first wicket with Bradley Gardner (12).

Gargrave went from 123-3 to 129-6, but the damage had already been done by then and they won in the 30th over.

Cowling remain third after winning a game of over 400 runs at home to Bradley, who have established themselves nicely in the top flight having gained promotion.

The home side were 40-3 at one stage but finished on a more than healthy 231-7, chiefly thanks to Daud Khan (&4) and Laiq Ur Rehman (54), who put on 104.

Khan hit 10 fours and two sixes and Ur Rehman nine fours, and contributions came later on from Sulaiman Aslam (26) and Junaid Hussain (25no).

Henry Meynell dismissed the top four on his way to 5-55, Juni Ashraf taking 2-29.

Sixth-placed Bradley also had two players who passed 50 - keeper Dave Hunt (54) and Iklaq Ahmed (52), who put on 52 for the second wicket - but they fell short on 186.

Hunt hit five fours and five sixes, and Ahmed six fours and two sixes.

The wickets were shared between Hamid Ullah (3-66), Danish Hameed (3-30) and Ur Rehman (3-41).

Glusburn, promoted like Bradley, slipped one place to seventh after losing by four wickets in a low-scoring encounter at home to Eldwick & Gilstead.

The hosts won the toss but could only total 105, Matt Lloyd scoring 27, Umar Farooq 24 and No 9 Danny Ridehalgh 16 not out.

The match was in the balance when E&G were 67-6, but they were seen home by an unbroken partnership of 40, defying Irfan Khaliq (3-35) and Abrar Sarwar (2-34).

Silsden are hanging onto the coat-tails of leaders Bowling Baptists in Division Two, notching a fourth win of the campaign by defeating third-placed Thornton-in-Craven in Cobbydale.

The visitors opted to have first knock, but were back in the pavilion for a modest 130, which was more than looked likely when they were 43-4.

However, skipper Jack Laycock (29) and Jonny Martin (20) then doubled the score, Mark Laycock weighing in with 26 as the wickets were shared between Bilal Mahmood (4-27), Will Pullen (2-35) and Mohsan Gulbhar (2-20).

Joshua Waind then came off in his pinch-hitting opening role, scoring 80 off 63 balls, including 14 fours, as Silsden won by five wickets inside 29 overs.

Cameron Knowles (32no) helped Waind add 46 for the third wicket, with Mark Laycock (2-22) and David Wolfe (2-50) doing best with the ball for the Booth Bridge Laners.

Skipton CI are up one place to fourth after winning a low-scoring contest against Ingrow at Sandylands which featured two last-wicket stands.

Danny Smith’s innings of 42 shored up CI’s total of 86, Tariq Ghani (14) being the only other player to reach double figures in a collapse from 51-2 to 62-9.

However, Smith, who almost batted through the innings, and Azhar Iqbal (8) added 24 vital runs for the 10th wicket.

Ingrow only had one player in double figures - captain and opener Matty Courtman (16), but still got to 76, including a last-wicket stand of 18, which had CI sweating.

Azhar Iqbal (3-24), Tanveer Hussain (4-22) and Qamar Zulfiqar (3-6) took all of the wickets.

Sutton are the big climbers, moving up three places to fifth, after a six-wicket victory at cellar dwellers Hepworth & Idle II.

The hosts won the toss but could only score 109, Dave Snowden taking 3-11, Sachin Abraham 2-13, 17-year-old Ben Middleton 2-15 and 16-year-old Caleb Gledhill 2-33.

Keeper Oliver Gledhill then scored 45 not out, adding 57 unbroken with Richard Walker (14no) as Sutton won in the 31st over.

Cononley were the big losers, sliding from fourth to seventh after a five-wicket defeat at home to Denholme.

Sent in, Cononley were castled for 91, despite a fifth-wicket stand of 42 between captain Harry Parker (27) and 16-year-old Ikram Daulatzia (17).

Denholme won in the 24th over, Colin Stead improving his bowling average by taking 4-20.

In Division Three, Cowling II’s first defeat in the league this season has cost them the leadership.

They could only field 10 men against Bradford & Bingley III at Sandy Lane and were dismissed for 57, Reyan Hassan top-scoring with 13 not out.

Bingley tottered from 28-1 to 37-5 but still won by three wickets, with Awais Riaz bagging 3-6 and Haseeb Majid 2-26.

Silsden II have climbed to third after receiving a walkover at Wilsden II, while Sutton II are fourth after a convincing home win over mid-table Bingley Congs III.

The home team’s production line of talent is in good working order as 16-year-old Charlie Whitaker (20) put on 38 for the third wicket with experienced opener Craig Thornton (39) before 21-year-old George Elrick (41) added 74 for the fourth with 15-year-old Sam Stoneman (40), 14-year-old Will Tedder adding 18 not out late on.

Congs were then dismissed for 90, with Elrick taking 5-10 and Whitaker 3-25.

Gargrave II’s match against Keighley III at Marley did not start as the ground was double booked.

There was a top-of-the-table clash in Division Four, and it led to the front-runners changing places.

Second-placed Skipton CI II won the toss at Matthew Lane and sent Bradley II in, who scored 159-8, the bulk of which was made by Ed Washington (39) and Mehmood Hussain (61no), Harry Andrews being the only other player in double figures as the wickets were shared between Jibin Jacob (3-35), Danyal Iqbal (2-23) and Matt Ryder (2-31).

CI never looked like matching that and were dismissed for 92, despite 27 from No 9 Mozzam Khan, 21 from Edwin Sebastian and 13 by Steve Davidson as the visitors were unable to cope with Donnacha Washington (7-3-9-5) and Charlie Andrews (3-19).

Third-placed Glusburn were always in the driving seat at Ingrow II, winning the toss and scoring 236-6, important contributions coming from Tahir Mehmood (69no), Rafaqat Hussain (40no) and Umar Dar (53).

Ingrow were then toppled for 86 by Dar (3-27), Mehmood (3-25) and skipper Mark Pickles (2-7).