Williams fires ton for Birstall in vain

Connor Williams was in fine form making 107, with 15 fours and three sixes and shared a 104-run stand with Craig Wood for the fourth wicket.

Wood finished with 51 from 54 balls as Birstall reached 214-8. Ben Burkill and Mark Gilliver took three wickets each.

After an early strike by Zafar Khan (3-57) Northowram responded well as Gilliver made 32 and Heath Pyke 49.

Burkill (26) and John Lister (21) kept the total ticking over and despite 2-51 from Saif ur Rehman and 2-44 by Kevin Watson, the visitors reached 218-7 with 12 balls to spare.

Hunslet Nelson remain seventh after a two-wicket defeat at New Farnley.

Opener Tommy Roy anchored the Nelson innings as they were 177 all out in 48.1 overs.

Farnley replied with 178-8 with eight overs to spare.

Nelson stand seventh after four defeats in nine matches. They are 12 points clear of second-bottom Wakefield St Michaels who lost by three wickets at home to Altofts.

Ossett are 10 points adrift of St Michaels after losing by eight wickets at home to Wrenthorpe who claimed just four points after failing to dismiss the hosts.

That saw Methley take over top spot, a point ahead of Wrenthorpe, after an 85-run home win over Mirfield Parish Cavaliers who dropped to sixth, 19 points behind the leaders.

Nick Connolly (88) and Hamid Khan (56) put on 95 for the first wicket while Chris Holliday hit an unbeaten 42 as the hosts closed on 243-5. Milan Gunarathne claimed 3-71 and there was a wicket each for Jonathan Boynton and David Winn.

Gunarathne then made 28 and Andrew Dracup 21 but there was no major innings in the Parish reply as Methley held the upper hand.

Daniel Hope blasted 35 in 22 balls with five fours and a six late on while Reece Drake hit six fours in a defiant 25 not out but Parish were 158 all out in the 42nd over as Simon Purdy led the Methley attack with 6-60.

Liversedge and Carlton are seven points clear at the top of Division One.

Carlton won by 145 runs at Oulton but Liversedge stay top on net runs per wicket ratio thanks to a 10-wicket home triumph over Wakefield Thornes A.

An opening wicket stand of 44 was about as good as it got for the visitors who were skittled out for 111 by Stephen Lane (4-14), Will Atkin (3-29), David Winter (2-16 in 12 overs with five maidens) and Tom Smith (1-26).

Then openers Max Power and David Bolt saw Liversedge storm to 113-0 in just 13.5 overs. Power hit seven fours in 41 not out from 44 balls while Bolt was in blistering form, making 62 from 41 deliveries with 13 fours and a six.

Moorlands remain third on 36 points after a blank date while Batley are four points further back after slipping to fifth following a 36-run home defeat by Buttershaw St Pauls who took over fourth spot.

Naveed Bhatti top scored with 62 to steer Buttershaw to 245-9. Hazaifah Patel was again in fine form with 5-52 while Arman Hussain, Mohammed Tahir, Lukman Shaikh and Ayaz Seedat took a wicket each.

In reply Tahir made 21, Mohammed Arshad 22, Bilal Abbas 45, Seedat 28 and Arman Hussain 29 but Batley fell behind the required rate and closed on 209-9 to deny the visitors maximum points.

East Ardsley A are three points ahead of the chasing pack in Division Three after winning by 31 runs at Moorlands A.

Dave Chester made 48 and Tom Daniels 54 as the visitors closed on 232-7. Adam Roberts ended with 4-57 Oliver Rounding 2-45 and Arshad Ali took 1-29.

Martin Baldwin hit 25 for Moorlands A who looked well set at 135-3 with 20 overs left. Roberts hit 12 fours and a six in his 70 but he followed soon after Arshad Ali (32) and despite 27 from Mark Battye and 19 by Dan Pauley, Moorlands A fell to 201 all out in the 46th over.

Carlton A stand second after a 48-run home win over Liversedge A.

The hosts were 189 all out before Liversedge A were dismissed for 141.

Mirfield Parish Cavaliers rose to third place, five points behind the leaders, after beating visitors Gildersome A by 97 runs.

Dave Jackson made 81, with 17 fours and a six, and Christian McBride hit 17 fours in his 78 not out as Parish powered to 302-8. Jonathan Trevitt added 47 and Paul Brook a rapid 32.

Good bowling by Brook (3-64) and Paul Fretwell (3-47) reduced Gildersome A to 119-6.

Neil Parkinson took 1-33 and Samuel Pinder 3-41 as the visitors were 209 all out.

Scholes A are a point behind Parish in fourth place after a six-wicket win over Wakefield St Michaels A.

Danny Russon (2-41) removed the openers before a sparkling spell from Scholes bowler Adam Minnett saw him take 8-32 in 11.4 overs with five maidens as the visitors, led by Adam Fox (77) were 174 all out.

Andy Spencer (70no) then anchored the reply and aided by Nick Firth (45) and Minnett, who hit five fours to be 20 not out, Scholes were 175-4 in 42 overs.