Aussie helps Bradford & Bingley tie thriller at New Farnley

Miller struck three sixes and 15 fours as he led the pursuit of the home side’s 265-8. His attractive stroke play put the heat on the bowlers as the sun made a welcome appearance.

Yorkshire opener Will Luxton (48) also made valuable runs but was overshadowed by the sparkling play of the left-hander Miller.

It says much for the character of the Bradford & Bingley side that they carried on the good work after Miller’s dismissal.

They scored 46 from the final four overs with 14 of those coming from the final six balls.

After Ed Brown had taken a four and single from the first two balls, Lachlan Doidge hit a six and followed up by taking a one.

When Brown failed to score from the penultimate delivery, three were needed for the visitors to record their first win.

The skipper could only manage two and though a first win had eluded his side they surely will take a lot of positives from the game.

New Farnley now haven’t won in their last three games and that could prove costly to their title hopes. Yasir Abbas (3-73) was the pick of the bowlers for Bradford & Bingley.

Jer Lane are now fifth in the table after Kyme Tahirkheli made an unbeaten 108 as they defeated Pudsey St Lawrence by 24 runs at Tofts Road.

Tahirkheli found the conditions to his liking as he made his first century for his new club.

His knock was punctuated with six sixes and six fours and helped Jer Lane to a score of 236-7. Josh Dracup (3-59) was the most successful bowler for Saints.

Barrie Frankland (52) and Harry Cullingford (48) were the main contributors as St Lawrence were dismissed for 212. Overseas player Israr Ullah took 4-67.

Skipper Brad Schmulian, above, hit his first century of the season as Woodlands made 315-7 on their way to a crushing 205-run win over Methley which takes them 23 points clear at the top.

His 106 contained 19 fours and was backed up by the efforts of Tom Clee (57), Sam Frankland (51) and Greg Finn (39).

Methley were quickly in trouble against Muhammad Bilal (4-35) and Elliot Richardson (4-45) as they crumbled to 110 all out.

Townville have moved level on points with New Farnley in second after easing to a seven-wicket win at Pudsey Congs.

Bankfoot were bowled out for 142 against Ossett, despite Hamza Iqbal scoring 50, and though James Lee took 4-26 for the Bradford side in the reply, they lost by four wickets.

Finally, Yorkshire wicket-keeper Harry Duke sparkled with 136 in Farsley’s thumping 176-run win over Hanging Heaton.

It is incredibly tight at the top of Division One, with just eight points covering the top six teams.

Morley are the new leaders after their 56-run at East Ardsley, but Cleckheaton are hot on their heels, returning to winnings ways after two successive defeats.

They recorded an emphatic nine-wicket triumph over Baildon, as Waleed Akhtar continued his fine start to the season by hitting an unbeaten 101.

He enjoyed an opening stand of 134 with Mally Nicholson (52), which helped Cleckheaton easily overhaul their opponents’ score of 192-7. 

Gomersal cracked 336-8 against Carlton, paving the way for a comfortable 78-run win over their opponents.

Batley are vying for promotion too, and they bowled out East Bierley for just 131 in beating them by 79 runs.

Danny Cross had earlier taken 4-45 in Batley’s score of 210.

An unbroken seventh wicket stand of 106 between Zeeshan Qasim (62no) and George Myers (58no) powered Undercliffe to victory over Yeadon at Intake Road.

Yeadon had earlier posted 210-5 against a bowling attack in which Abdullah Khan (3-37) and Jude Roberts (3-59) enjoyed the most success.

Like Batley, Undercliffe have a game in hand on the teams above them.

Yeadon bounced back from that loss with a nine-run win over Baildon on Sunday, the Bradford side collapsing in losing their last seven wickets for just 20 runs to be dismissed for 149.

Umar Zahoor took 6-38 to ensure Yeadon could only reach 158, and Jonny Reynolds (51) looked to have paved the way for a successful Baildon chase before that late collapse.

Sandal remain at the foot of the table after a 75-run defeat at Birstall. 

Hartshead Moor lead Division Two on net run rate from Bowling Old Lane after bagging 20 points for a convincing nine-wicket win over Crossflatts, who were skittled for just 83.

Old Lane overcame Wrenthorpe by 63 runs with Hisan Ahmed (70) and Imran Malik (54) helping them to 215 before Abdullah Ijaz (3-21) helped dismiss their opponents for 152.

Hopton Mills are just four points back after their 67-run win over Buttershaw St Paul’s.

Adam Wainwright (3-33) and Amer Ayoub (3-55) posed the main threat for Buttershaw as Mills made 232, but the Bradford side were bowled out for only 165, as Jonathan Burston top scored with 33.

Lightcliffe chased down a Liversedge score of 243 to win by six wickets, Parvaise Khan’s fine 87 for the latter proving in vain.

Spinner Daanyaal Ahmed impressed with 6-40 as Keighley bowled out Northowram Fields for 186 on their way to an eight-wicket win.

Johandre Barnard (81), Zahir Shah (58no) and Raees Hussain (37no) powered Keighley to their victory target.

Hunslet Nelson bounced back from being bowled out for 30 last week to defeat Heckmondwike & Carlinghow by one wicket. 

Altofts recover from 11-4 to post the season’s highest score of 401 as they defeated leaders Spen Victoria by 197 runs.

This was largely due to a sensational league record sixth-wicket stand of 277 between Jacques Porter and Saif Tahir, who blasted 181 and 139 respectively.

Meanwhile, Adwalton lost by six runs to Scholes, with their conquerors replacing them in second the following day after defeating East Leeds by eight wickets.

That double success for Scholes puts them just two points off the summit.

Wakefield St Michael’s beat Great Preston by three wickets while Crossbank Methodists overhauled a Windhill & Daisy Hill total of 181 to win by four wickets.

Ahsan Tanveer hit an impressive 69 for Windhill, but it proved to be in a losing cause.

Finally, Gildersome & Farnley Hill easily beat East Leeds by 124 runs, making it a poor weekend for the latter.