Batley move out of relegation zone
Batley move out of relegation zone
BATLEY moved out of the Central Yorkshire League Premier Division relegation zone thanks to a terrific 50-run victory over Northowram Fields last Saturday.
The win saw Batley move above Ossett, who lost to champions Wrenthorpe, but just one point seperates the sides going into the final two matches of the season.
Tariq Hussain was promoted to bat at no3 and the gamble paid off as he shared a 104-run second-wicket stand with opener Mohammed Tahir as they made 58 apiece.
Naidim Hussain (6-50) and Chris Thompson (3-36) led a fightback as Batley were bowled out for 166.
Although Sam Brittain (37) and Tom Marsden (29) shone in reply, Fields were bowled out for 116.
Huzaifah Patel claimed 4-23 from 10.2 overs, while teenager Roheil Hussain collected 3-16 as Batley threaten to produce another of their great escapes.
Birstall slipped to a five-wicket defeat at Methley and they remain eighth in the table.
Birstall are 10 points above the relegation zone with just two matches to play and with a tough trip to New Farnley this weekend, they know the fight against the drop could go right down to the wire.
Rob Peregrine led the Birstall innings with a patient 44 from 88 balls.
Craig Wood chipped in with a quickfire 39 late on but the visitors were bowled out for 164 as Chris Leaf (4-27) and Hemantha Alles (3-48) shone.
Nick Connolly and Hamid Khan produced a 91-run opening wicket stand, which was ended when Paul Marlow trapped Connolly lbw for 44.
Khan continued to take the fight to Birstall and by the time he was out, again to Marlow for 93, Methley had reached 155-4.
Chris Smith also fell to Marlow (3-36) for a duck but Methley reached their target in the 39th over to keep alive their hopes of finishing as runners-up.
Liversedge are staring relegation in the face as they are seven points behind Ossett and eight adrift of Batley and they must win both their remaining games to stand any chance of avoiding the drop.
Liversedge produced a brave fight but were unable to prevent New Farnley taking another step towards clinching second spot with a 15-run victory.
Matthew Good (86) and Nicholas Cullen (43) were the leading run scorers in Farnley's 230-6.
David Bolt (64) and Shoaib Khan (85) produced an impressive second-wicket stand but once they were out the Liversedge challenge faded away and they were dismissed for 215, with Danny Busfield (3-47), Nicky Johnson (3-47) and Ian Fisher (2-37) doing most of the damage.
Altofts moved four points clear of the drop zone with an eight-wicket win over Wakefield St Michaels.
There was a dramatic day of action at both ends of the Division One table.
Scholes handed themselves a lifeline as they moved four points clear of the relegation zone with a surprise victory over second placed Mirfield Parish Cavaliers.
Majid Majeed hit 10 fours and a six on his way to 58 but the Scholes innings was boosted by a terrific late blast by Matthew Barnes as he struck 10 fours and two sixes on his way to 81 from just 65 balls as the home side reached 237 all out in the 47th over.
Bradley Drake (43), David Winn (33), Dave Whitelock (30) and Sam Pinder (25) led the Parish reply but they were bowled out for 182 with Daniel Hope claiming 4-64 and Barnes capping a fine game with 3-38.
Parish must have thought they would have to put their promotion celebrations on hold, until news filtered through from a dramatic conclusion to the game between third-placed Moorlands and relegation threatened Woodkirk.
With both sides needing the points for different reasons, the match was delicately poised with Moorlands on 162-6 in reply to Woodkirk's 223 all out.
However, with Moorlands requiring 62 runs to win and keep alive their fading hopes of promotion and Woodkirk needing to claim the final four wickets, which would have been enough to lift them out of the relegation zone, the light was deemed unfit and the match was abandoned in the 44th over.
Both sides had to settle for two points from the game, which allowed Mirfield Parish to clinch the second promotion place.
The result did second-bottom Woodkirk no favours as they are four points behind Methley A and Scholes going into the final two matches.
Saddik Mulla (39), Asish Rana (32) and Craig Bailey (26) were the leading Woodkirk scorers, while Christopher Lloyd (4-40) and Dan Pauley (3-79) shone with the ball for Moorlands.
Michael Rounding led the reply with 73 at the top of the Moorlands innings but Garry Dawber was having an excellent game and had claimed 6-28 from 12 overs when play was halted.
There were celebrations at Gipsy Lane after Hunslet Nelson clinched the first division title with a crushing 179-run victory over Methley A.
Nelson racked up 261-1 declared as Tommy Roy (100no), Andrew McIntosh (78) and Danny McTernan (68no) impressed.
Sohail Raz blew away the Methley top order in a devastating spell of 6-8 from 7.2 overs, as they were bowled out for 82.
There is set to be a thrilling finale to the Division Two campaign with Hopton Mills, Oulton and Townville A battling it out for promotion.
Mills are fourth, three points behind second placed Townville A after they held their nerve to clinch a dramatic two-run win at Birstall A.
Hopton were superbly led by opener Mark Ashton, who hit 99 before being caught and bowled by Sean Twohig when attempting to reach his century.
Twohig ended with 3-53 but pick of the Birstall bowling was Richard Sidle, who claimed 4-49, as Mills were bowled out for 219.
Teenager Nick Kaye led the Birstall reply with 66. Support came from another junior Josh Twohig (40) but wickets also fell.
Sidle dropped himself down the order to help boost the Birstall innings and he hit 30, while Sean Twohig made 29 as the home side edged towards their target.
However, with the last pair at the crease and Birstall just two runs short of chasing down the Hopton total, Andy Moorhouse bowled last man Jacob Flathers as Mills clinched a vital win which keeps alive their promotion hopes.
Townville A scraped to a one-wicket win over Buttershaw St Pauls A and they are a point clear of Oulton, who defeated leaders Wakefield Thornes A by two wickets.
Birstall A lie third-bottom, 10 points ahead of East Ardsley, who gained an emphatic 163-run success at Wrenthorpe A last week.
BATLEY A SEAL
PROMOTION
Batley A clinched promotion from Division Three thanks to a five-wicket victory over Westwood Park and they know victory at Scholes A this Saturday will see them crowned champions.
Although Mohammed Siddique carried his bat for 64, Westwood were bowled out for 110 as Jabir Patel claimed 4-16, with Waseem Rabani and Saqib Talib claiming two wickets each.
Batley suffered a wobble in reply, losing five wickets, but were guided home by Ebrahim Kayat (33no) and Jabir Patel (32no).
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Weather for Batley
Friday 25 May 2012
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