Yorkshire ace hurts Jer Lane as Bradford title race hots up

Coad, who was making his first appearance of the season, took 4-19 and was supported by Matthew Lumb (4-40) as Jer Lane were bowled out for 144 in a match that was reduced to 30 overs per side due to a late start.

Put in to bat, Townville made 191-9 with Chris Holliday (37) and Conor Harvey (32) leading the way. That total took on a more daunting look once Coad ran through Jer Lane’s top order.

With Woodlands beating Ossett by 150 runs and New Farnley defeating Pudsey St Lawrence, the battle at the top is tighter than ever.

Jer Lane have 197 points while Woodlands (191), New Farnley (181) and Townville (177) are all hot on their heels.

Opener Sam Frankland hir his second successive league century as Woodlands made 311-6 against Ossett at Albert Terrace.

Frankland struck three sixes and 12 fours while scoring 105 and his efforts were built on by Kieran Collins (68 not out).

Ossett were bowled out for 161 as swing bowlers Tom Clee (5-50) and Muhammad Bilal (5-61) shared the wickets.

Rain delayed the start and interrupted the second innings at Tofts Road where St Lawrence were restricted to 150-8 as they chased a DLS Target of 195 in 36 overs against New Farnley.

Barrie Frankland (45) and Harry Cullingford (44) were their top scorers.

New Farnley had earlier made 214-9 in 44 overs despite a fine spell of spin bowling from Chris Marsden which brought him his season’s best figures of 6-49.

Usman Arshad top scored with 55 not out for the visitors.

Bradford & Bingley and Cleckheaton recorded convincing victories in their battles to avoid relegation from the top-flight.

Cleckheaton were the day’s quickest winners as they raced to a seven-wicket victory over Farsley.

That result dumped Farsley into the bottom two following Bradford & Bingley’s 10-wicket triumph over bottom team Pudsey Congs.

It means that Cleckheaton now have 130 points, Bradford & Bingley 127 and Farsley 119 with Congs – still without a win after 13 games – adrift at the foot of the table with 66.

James Stansfield’s decision to put Farsley in to bat paid off as Cleckheaton bowled them out for 116.

Teenage opening bowler Bradley Sylvester (3-25) and Stansfield (3-32) soon got to work with Farsley skipper Ben Wright (80) seemingly batting on a different pitch to his teammates.

Opener Waleed Akhtar (57no) enabled Cleckheaton to reach their victory target in just 14.3 overs.

Young Jack Luxton produced a stunning spell of 6-27 as Bradford & Bingley bowled out Pudsey Congs for 124.

Bradford & Bingley cruised to victory with openers Jacob Slator (71no) and Callam Goldthorp (51no) sharing an unbroken stand of 128.

Callam Goldthorp cracked an unbeaten half century as Bradford & Bingley thrashed Pudsey Congs. (Image: Ray Spencer.)

Fifth-placed Methley chased down an Undercliffe score of 211-9 to record a five-wicket win.

Wicketkeeper Kyle Welsh (71) and Danish Hussain (30) scored briskly for Undercliffe, but the innings fell away after their dismissals.

Division One leaders Carlton and third-placed East Bierley were involved in nail-biting finishes but clung on to secure slender victories.

Rock-bottom Hanging Heaton reduced their hosts Carlton to 82-6 before they recovered to post a total of 158.

At various points in their innings Hanging Heaton looked to be moving towards a shock win but Carlton held their nerve to bowl them out for 155 and win by three runs.

Leg spinner Jack Dyson is the player East Bierley must thanks for their win. He took 6-39 as they defended a total of 135 by bowling out opponents Yeadon for 133.

East Bierley found the going tough when they batted first, but in the end, Hamza Saeed’s knock of 48 proved vital.

Jonny Reynolds (55) and Kevin McDermott (47) led the way as Baildon retained their grip on second place with a four-wicket win over Batley.

Sam Kelly (3-27) and Seif Hussain (3-58) took the bowling honours for Baildon as Batley were restricted to 169 batting first.

Bankfoot were indebted to the bowling of Amer Ayoub (5-44) and James Lee (4-28) as they sneaked a two-wicket win over Hartshead Moor at Wickets Close.

Ayoub and Lee enabled their side to bowl out Hartshead Moor for 124 but knocking off the runs for victory proved extremely tricky, with the Bradford side indebted to veteran Gary Wainwright, who top scored with 33.

There were vital wins for lowly Sandal and Bowling Old Lane. Sandal won by 41 runs at Morley while Old :ane defeated Birstall by 35 runs at Birch Lane.

Hazrat Abbas (5-41 and Saqif Ridwan (3-31) enabled Old Lane to bowl out Birstall for 133 as they successfully defended a total of 168.

Usman Riaz (33) top scored for Old Lane as they came out on top in a low-scoring game.

Left arm spinner Chris Rhodes (6-24) took his haul of league wickets to 39 for the season as he helped Division Two leaders Gomersal defeat Altofts by 41 runs.

Second place Scholes won again as they overcame East Ardsley by 23 runs, a result that was a lot tighter than expected when East Ardsley were reduced to 84-6 when replying to a score of 255-7.

Crossflatts replaced Hunslet Nelson in third place after defeating them by 60 runs. Azhar Mehmood (5-53) impressed as Nelson were bowled out for 186.

That meant they got nowhere near their rivals’ score of 246-6 in a 44 overs per side contest.

Joe Greenwood (75), Josh Brooksbank (47) and Sanjula Bandara (38no) all made important contributions to an impressive batting display by Flatts.

Lightcliffe ran riot as they compiled the day’s highest score of 408-5 in a 265-run win over struggling Hopton Mills.

Bottom team Heckmondwike & Carlinghow recorded only their second win as they defeated fellow strugglers Keighley by 22 runs.

Keighley, despite an unbeaten 55 from their captain Simon Bailey, were dismissed for 156 in an unsuccessful chase.

Defeat was hard on Bailey who had earlier taken 4-55 as he and fellow spinner Daanyaal Ahmed (5-25) had combined to bowl out Heckmondwike & Carlinghow for 178.

A rampant 71 not out from 29 balls by Zaheer Abbas was a key factor in Buttershaw St Paul’s 40-run win over Northowram Fields.

They racked up a challenging total of 318-8 and Northowram Fields replied with 278-8, which at least gave them maximum batting points.

Great Preston picked up another 20-point maximum as they completed the double over newcomers Streethouse in Division Three.

The leaders made 260 and the new boys fought hard in reply but could only score 203.

Second-placed Wrenthorpe bowled out Wakefield St Michael’s for 84 before racing to a 10-wicket win.

Windhill & Daisy Hill are on the promotion charge too though, and they continued their winning streak with a 97-run victory over Brighouse.

Shoaib Iqbal (74) and Zaib Ali (60) enabled Windhill & Daisy Hill to make 267-9, with Harpartap Singh (3-28) the best of the bowlers for Brighouse.

Adam Hussain (45) was the top scorer in their reply of 170, as Bobby Khan (3-29) and Shahzad Iqbal (3-42) sealed victory for Windhill & Daisy Hill.

Spen Victoria defeated Liversedge by eight wickets in a one-sided affair.

Paul Cooper (65) impressed as Liversedge made 199-9, but Spen batted superbly to pass that total with ease.

Adwalton bowled out their near neighbours Gildersome & Farnley Hill for 144 to secure a 33-run win.

The match between East Leeds and Crossbank Methodists was abandoned.