GARGRAVE, who notched another convincing win, have extended their lead at the top of Timothy Taylor’s Craven League Division One to 25 points.
They sent in bottom-of-the-table hosts Wilsden and dismissed them for 150 as they collapsed from 118-2 as off-spinner Will Smith (5-6) created havoc to spearhead an attack of George Gregson (3-32) and Dave Harrop (2-25).
Opener Brad Gardner then scored an unbeaten 67 off 77 balls, including 12 fours, as the visitors won by eight wickets in the 22nd over, finding a willing ally in John Beckwith, who finished on 64 not out off a mere 32 balls, including 10 fours and two sixes.
The reason the gap has grown at the top is because Cowling lost by four wickets at home to Haworth Road Meths, who replace them in second.
Cowling opted to bat and made 184, with the bulk of runs coming from opener Wasim Hussain (42), Rizwan Hussain (27) and skipper Laiq Ur Rehman (38no).
But Meths timed their run chase nicely, winning in the 40th over, despite Ur Rehman taking 4-53.
Bradley have climbed one place to seventh after an impressive win at home to Eldwick & Gilstead, who drop from third to fourth.
Opener Mohammad Qadeer (65) and captain Iklaq Ahmed (59) put on 101 for the second wicket, with Qadeer hitting eight fours and a six off 113 balls, and Ahmed four fours and five sixes in just 67 deliveries.
Juni Ashraf backed up their efforts with 68 not off 49 balls in the middle order, a knock which also contained four fours and five sixes as Bradley totalled 255-8.
E&G had a first-wicket stand of 63 but little thereafter as they were dismissed for 154, collapsing from 136-4 to Zafar Iqbal (6-29) and Akeel Rashid (3-16), the fourth and fifth bowlers used.
Glusburn have dropped one place to eighth on the back of a 125-run defeat at Riddlesden, who made 288-7 after winning the toss, with Ehsan Khan scoring 120 and keeper Tayyab Ishaq 105, Abrar Sarwar doing well to take 2-39.
Sarwar then scored 56 off 73 balls, including 10 fours, and Danny Ridehalgh contributed 26 to their 163 all out as Omar Khatab took 5-10.
In Division Two, Silsden’s lead a the top is now 11 points after a convincing victory at home to Ingrow.
The Cobbydalers won the toss and opener Rob Jones (69) added 83 for the second wicket with Jack Lister (47), who then put on 74 for the third with Sam Barraclough (34).
Jones’ runs came off 72 deliveries and included 10 fours and three sixes, while Lister hit four fours and Barraclough five fours.
Bilal Mahmood then smacked 29 off 18 balls, including four fours and a six, as Silsden totalled 255-7, but Ingrow could not cope with Kieran Lawrence (8-46) as they were toppled for 101.
Skipton CI climbed one place to third after winning their home derby against Cononley, who did not make best use of the toss as they were back in the pavilion for 111, despite 32 from Tom Feather, 19 from Scott Brook and 18 from captain Andrew Starkey.
Connors Hall Brown (3-28), Qamar Zulfiqar (3-41) and Ahsan Mahmood (2-5) triggered a collapse from 74-2, losing their last three wickets at 111, and CI won by seven wickets as Mahmood scored 41, Tanveer Hussain 24 and Muhammad Sabeel 26 not out.
Sutton are up two places to fourth after the ‘old firm’ of David Snowden and Sam Solley put on 116 for their first wicket at home to Denholme.
Snowden scored 60 off 88 balls, including seven fours and three sixes, while Solley’s 70 came off 67 deliveries and contained 11 fours and a six, but under-15 Ali Hussain’s contribution of 66 should not be overlooked.
His innings only lasted 51 balls and included 10 fours and two sixes, putting on 67 with Oliver Gledhill (16) and leaving Snowden with the luxury of declaring on 261-4 after 40 overs.
Denholme, who were 80-7, were back in the pavilion for 137 as Sachin Abraham took 3-18 and Snowden 4-21.
Thornton-in-Craven, who drop to sixth, did not detain leaders Bowling Baptists for long at Booth Bridge Lane, only managing 110-8 after winning the toss, with the only notable contributions coming from Scott Howarth-Hynes (25), Rob Cockell (24) and David Holt (19) as they fell away from 83-4.
Baptists took only 17 overs to pass that total without loss.
Silsden II are still on course for promotion from Division Three, despite losing by 49 runs at Keighley III in a match where keepers shone with the bat.
Sent in, Keighley made 162 at Marley, with gloveman Abid Hussain top-scoring with 49, Sohail Shah scoring 31 as Alex Nelson took 4-33 and Keenan Wozny 3-42.
Silsden’s keeper James Nelson then scored 43, Hugh Sugden 18 and under-18 Boe Kennedy 16, but only Seth Wiseman (11) also made double figures in their 113.
Cowling II are third on 125 points, 17 behind Silsden II, who in turn are 11 points behind leaders Long Lee.
It was a low-scoring match at Skipton Road, where Gargrave II, sent in by visitors Cowling II, were dismissed for 106, despite 41 by opener Tom Goodwin, 29 by Dom Kay and 13 by Ben Wood.
From a high-water mark of 73-2, however, Gargrave lost their last eight wickets for 33 to Haseeb Majid (4-42), Sajid Shafait (4-26) and Asim Fiaz (2-8).
Under-17 Reyan Hassan Ali then scored 45 to help Cowling to a two-wicket win, captain Shafait weighing in with 29 and Steve Dalby 16 as Will Storr (12-3-21-3) and Wood (12-1-26-4) returned outstanding figures.
Sutton II lost a thriller at Sandy Lane by four runs to Bradford & Bingley III, who made 179-8 after choosing to bat, Jaison Joseph (5-34) and Charlie Whitaker (2-32) causing a shutter of wickets to fall from 86-2.
Under-16 Whitaker then completed a fine match by scoring 50 not out off 64 balls, including a four and six sixes, adding 63 unbroken with Andrew Carrington (18no) as they agonisingly finished on 175-7.
Theo Reay scored 31 off 32 balls and George Elrick made 19.
Bradley II notched a solid five-wicket victory at Denholme II to extend their leadership to 12 points in Division Four.
Mohammad Imran (6-29) helped to restrict the hosts to 139-8 after they chose to have first knock, and it took only 32.2 overs for Bradley to knock them off, with Luke Watson (30no) and captain Charlie Andrerws (12no) seeing them home after openers Harry Andrew and Chris Kimberley had scored 33 and 19 respectively, and Nasar Riaz 12.
Mozzam Khan was the hero for Skipton CI II, taking 5-3 in 3.3 overs, as the second-placed club won easily at Hepworth & Idle III.
Sent in, the Sandylanders scored 143, with contributions from Danyal Iqbal (35), Sean Williamson (32), who added 44 for the eighth wicket, and No 10 Irfan Badshah (15).
The Westfield Laners were then skittled for 59 in 19.3 overs, despite under4-17 opener Jack Lorriman scoring 33, with the next best score being six as four players made ducks.
Glusburn II, who had a free week, are third on 121 points, 26 behind second-placed CI II, who in turn are 12 adrift of Bowling Baptists II.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here