Crowther on form for United

Matthew Crowther gave Heckmondwike the edge with a fine innings of 53 as they raced to a challenging target of 212 for the loss of six wickets.

Higham had very little in the way of response as they were bowled out for 112.

Heckmondwike are eight points behind leaders Woolley and six behind second-placed Woodfield Park.

Mirfield slipped to eighth place in Section A after they went down to a one-wicket defeat against second-bottom Old Almondburians at Memorial Park.

Richard Robinson was firing on all cylinders for Mirfield as he came in at the fall of the first wicket and held one end up with his impressive unbeaten innings of 67.

Earlier the opening pair of Andrew Knowles and Pat Neal had laid a firm foundation scoring 54 and 34 respectively as Mirfield set a target of 183-4.

Mirfield appeared to be in control especially as Hamza Arif found his rhythm to claim a haul of 5-38. However, they could not stop no7 batsman Joseph Calagiovanni who finished unbeaten on 62 to help his side to victory off the final ball.

In the Premier Division Thornhill and Westborough are up to fourth place after a 126 run triumph at home to Green Moor.

The home side were give a huge boost when opener Dan Cheesbrough struck a fine 118 to lay down a strong platform. Martin Griffiths kept up the momentum with 45 and Trevor Woods added 39 before no10 batsman Corey Kennedy did his bit for the side with an unbeaten 41 as Thornhill and Westbrough laid down a formidable target of 278-9.

All rounder Kennedy led the bowling attack and was rewarded with a fine haul of 4-33 from his 14 over spell to reduced Green Moor to 152-8.

Mount extended their lead in Section B to four points over Almondbury Wes B thanks to a low scoring five wicket win over Denby Grange A. Fakir Laher claimed a remarkable 7-21 to reduce Denby Grange to 86 all out. Mount lost five wickets in thier reply.

Crossbank Methodists are fifth after a five wicket setback against Bradley and Colne. James Lord impressed with 59 and Wayne Lawford 43no were the backbone of the Crossbank innings but the total of 176-8 proved a comfortable one for Bradley and Colne to chase especially as opener Mohammed Sajid led the charge with 93.

Upper Hopton lost by 73 runs at home to Horbury Bridge. John Kitson top scored for Horbury with 46 in a total of 173. Tom Wilkes and Thomas Heaton shared the Hopton bowling honours with three wickets each.

Upper Hopton’s batting was disappointing as they were bowled out for 100 in 28 overs. David Stones top scored with 38.

In Section C Crossbank Methodists A had the upper hand with a 57 run victory over Gawthorpe St Marys.

Upper Hopton B lost by 100 runs at Green Moor B and Mirfield B lost by 87 runs at Penistone B.

Thornhill and Westborugh B were in top form with the bat against Higham B as H Alhab dominated with an excellent innings of 161. There was good support from Danny Dickinson 66, Shabbir Ahmed 30 and Daniel Nicholson 41 as they made a mammoth 364. Higham responded in kind with Andrew Gibbins leading the charge with 142 not out but it was in vain as Thornhill restricted them to 302-4.

In Section E Mount B went down by three wickets despite some fine performances. Ismail Seedat scored 71, Rohit Khuller added 35 and Shabbir Patel 29 on the way to 209. It was in vain though as Badger Hill responded with 210-7 thanks to Nicholas Dare 71 and Dean Swift 56.

Heckmondwike and Carlinghow B were involved in a tie with Upperthong B. Morton Robinson boosted Heckmondwike with a fine innigs of 75 supported by Martin Waldron with 23 and Mohammed Shahban 26 as they set a target of 190.

Andrew Pickett 4-43 and Briar Hill 3-28 did their bit for Heckmondwike especially Hill who took a wicket off the final ball of the Upperthong reply with the score on 190.