Mixed fortunes for Skipton CI on final day of season

Their first XI defeated already-promoted Silsden to secure their place in Division Two, with Cononley being relegated alongside Hepworth & Idle II, who were already doomed.

That opened up the path for CI II to be promoted from Division Four.

However, they only picked up six bonus points from their defeat at Haworth II, meaning that they finished equal on points with Bowling Baptists II, but the latter were promoted in second thanks to a superior runs-per-wickets ratio (7.54 compared to 6.62).

Back to Sandylands, Silsden won the toss and chose to bat, but were dismissed for 142, which was some recovery from 21-5 as Tanveer Hussain (3-34) put them on the back foot.

Will Pullen (30) and Tom Leach (63 off 60 balls, including 10 fours) added 49 for the sixth wicket and captain Jack Roberts (19), batting at No 9, then put on 55 with Leach for the eighth wicket.

There were no nerves after tea, however, as opener Darren Pighills anchored the reply, scoring 65 not out off 81 deliveries, including 12 fours.

He put on 40 for the first wicket with Connors Hall Brown (22) and then 86 unbroken with skipper Danny Smith (34no) as CI won by eight wickets in the 29th over.

With Ingrow gaining the expected victory at home to Hepworth & Idle II, the focus then switched to Thornton-in-Craven, who were at home to Cononley and weren’t safe themselves.

The hosts made an impressive 221-6 after being sent in, despite losing David Holt to the first ball of the match.

Scott Howarth-Hynes (25) and keeper James Mellin (16) steadied the ship by adding 38 and then it was down to Chris Bowker, who just had time to reach his century before the 45 overs elapsed, finishing on 101 not out off 103 deliveries, hitting seven fours and nine sixes.

Captain Jack Laycock (27) helped him add 42 for the fourth wicket and Rob Cockell (29) partnered Bowker in a stand of 57 for the fifth wicket before Chris dominated a sixth-wicket partnership of 71 with his brother Matt (17), Parker finishing with 3-51.

Cononley, whose batting has been fragile of late, were then dismissed for 67 inside 27 overs, No 9 Ikram Daulatzai scoring 42 to at least help them over 50 as they had been 13-7 when he came to the crease.

It was bad timing on Cononley’s part to drop into the bottom two on the final day of the season, but Ingrow and CI both climbed above them by winning their last two.

Sutton, who won five of their last six, finished in fourth, with their last victory coming in a knife-edge clash at home to Airedale, who ended up third, just three points ahead of their hosts.

Airedale were sent in and were looking good at 75-1 until Dave Snowden transformed the innings by taking 5-19, Tommy Miller chipping in with 2-15 on a day when Snowden used seven bowlers.

Sam Solley (24) and Caleb Gledhill (11) put on 34 for the first wicket, but they lost six wickets for 18 runs to make Airedale slight favourites.

Miller (26) and keeper Oliver Gledhill (35no) then added 28 for the seventh wicket before the latter dominated a last-wicket unbroken stand of 27 with Philip Edwards (1 not out off 31 balls) to give Sutton a memorable win.

In Division Four, CI II sent in Haworth II at West Lane and dismissed them for 125, home captain Chris Smith opening the batting and scoring 54 to defy Matt Ryder (4-41), Jibin Jacob (3-8) and Danyal Iqbal (2-23).

CI must have been optimistic at tea, but their mood soon changed when they were 12-3 and 44-5 as Zachary Fyfe-Gudgeon and 12-year-old Max Wareing got to work.

Keeper Tom Carlisle gave CI some hope by scoring 32 and captain Ryder wasn’t going to give up the ghost either, scoring 14 at No 9, but they fell 14 runs short of victory when the latter was lbw.

Champions Bradley II sent in Long Lee II at Golden View and dismissed them for 52 in 23.3 overs, Charlie Andrews (4-20), Hamza Ayub (3-9) and Donnacha Washington (2-12) forming a potent trio.

Opener Jack Andrews (38no) then saw Bradley to a 13th victory of the campaign as they won by seven wickets inside nine overs.

Gargrave, winners of Division One, also got to 13 wins thanks to a comprehensive victory over visitors Eldwick & Gilstead.

The champions won the toss and, in an innings of ups and downs, made 187, Matt Simpson (58), Lee Barrett (34 rtd) and Tom Goodwin and Dave Harrop, who both scored 22, making up the bulk of the runs.

E&G were 39-1 in reply but lost their remaining nine wickets for just 44 as Simpson took an incredible 5-1 and Rob Storr 2-12 as captain Will Smith used nine bowlers.

Glusburn, promoted last season, will be happy with their campaign as they finished fourth, finishing with a maximum points haul at relegated Wilsden.

The visitors chose to bowl and castled the hosts for 50 inside 25 overs, with Irfan Khaliq (5-19) and Abrar Sarwar (3-30) doing plenty off damage with the new ball.

Muhammad Hussnain (30) and Dipesh Mistry (20no) then took Glusburn to the brink of victory with an opening stand of 50, and they won by nine wickets in just the eighth over.

Bradley, Division Two champions last term, also survived in eighth place, 23 points above Wilsden.

The South Craven side could not finish the season with a victory, however, going down by 54 runs at Haworth Road Meths, who made 154 after choosing to have first knock, Toby Meynell taking 3-27, Akeel Rashid 3-44 and Zain Naeem 2-21.

Four of Bradley’s top five then made double figures, topped by Rashid (27) and Meynell (22), but they lacked support and were dismissed for 100.

Cowling ended their campaign one place and 23 points ahead of Bradley with a fine victory at third-placed Hepworth & Idle.

The visitors were struggling at 29-4 but were revived by a partnership of 49 for the fifth wicket between Danish Hameed (20) and Yash Sethiya (28) before Laiq Ur Rehman helped them to 143 by scoring 51 not out from 68 deliveries, including 10 fours.

Hepworth & Idle used all 11 bowlers and they all got a chance to bat as they were dismissed for 101, with Ur Rehman (2-20), Hassnain Ishaq (2-25) and Hameed (2-17) among the wickets.

There was a top-two clash in Division Three, which ended with visitors Long Lee defeating hosts Cowling II by 20 runs, with promotion in the bag before the match for both.

Champions Long Lee were sent in and made 132, Awais Riaz taking 5-40, Majid Iqbal 2-22 and Haseeb Majid 2-30.

Cowling were 57-7 after tea and did well to reach 112, courtesy of a half-century by Rauf, with Majid (19) being the only other player in double figures.

Silsden II, who were guaranteed third place, had an easy last-day win over relegated Bingley Congs III, who only had 10 men and were dismissed for 65 after being sent in, five bowlers taking wickets, headed by Alex Nelson (3-8), Gareth Smith (2-8) and Joshua Jordan (2-15).

Hosts Silsden then won by seven wickets inside 18 overs, skipper Hugh Sugden (17no) acting as the sheet anchor as Ashton Wozny (20) and Jordan (18no) helped the Cobbydalers home.

Gargrave II, who ended up fourth, finished their campaign off at Sandy Lane, defeating Bradford & Bingley III by five wickets.

Bingley made 130 after choosing to bat, Will Storr (4-10) and Dieter Kayley (3-12) easily being the best of the eight bowlers.

Gargrave’s reply started off shakily, but Adam Hudson eased any doubts with an unbeaten 78 off 53 deliveries, including two fours and 10 sixes, Neil Fraser-Dibb (13no) accompanying him to victory in the 29th over.

Sutton, who were seventh, were handed a walkover by relegated Keighley III.