Keighley pair have top weekend like Clayton and Great Horton

At Oxenhope, in the Premier Division, SBCI’s decision to insert failed, but only just.

The home team scored 235, with the principal figures in that innings being Lewis Brown (68) and Lewis Firth (4-69).

SBCI’s reply was in dire straits at 52-5 as Daniel Scott took three early wickets, but then came a superb partnership of 164 between Gnanasambandham Arjuna (102) and Simon Wood (65).

When Wood was dismissed at 216-6, Arjuna tried to push on but he was run out at 227-9, with the innings closing one run later, as Oxenhope claimed a winning draw.

At Walton Street, Razwan Saghir (61) and Hasan Jamil (58) provided an impressive second-wicket partnership of 112 for Sowerby Bridge against Thornton.

However, that was end of any resistance against the leaders as the last eight wickets fell for a miserly 26.

Five players failed to score as Grant Soames took 6-22 - a personal best from him.

Jordan Croft (48) top-scored in Thornton’s reply as they required only 26 overs to reach a winning 140-2.

Bradshaw’s batting efforts continue to improve, and their 211-8 at home to Shelf Northowram Hedge Top suggested they may have had a chance to move off the bottom rung.

Si Collins (81no) and Ismail Dawood (49) were prominent in the 45-over score.

However, the home team’s bowling suffered dramatically when Dan Cole hit a brilliant 124 not out and with Daniel Barron scoring 60, only 34 overs were needed for a winning 216-4.

The First Division match at the Low Moor Holy Trinity brought the only first XI tie of the season thus far.

Augustinians lost two wickets in James Overend’s (4-78) opening over after opting to bat.

Skipper and opener Muhammad Yasir had a golden first-ball duck as the score then slipped to 28-4.

A recovery from Muhammed Siddique (50) and Imran Khan took the score to 111-5 before the former was stumped.

Khan (88) continued with his fine knock and a score of 241 was posted in the final over, which was well above initial expectations, with Matthew Jordan (4-59) the other successful Trinity bowler.

In reply, the home team looked well on course for victory as Oliver Brook (70) and Michael Hustler (42) laid the foundation.

However, from 175-3 wickets began to fall as Faisal Bhatti (7-65) returned to the attack and he took four of the last five wickets to fall as Trinity slipped from 230-6 to 241.

Clayton’s in-form David Paynter took his season’s league runs to 572 at an average of 71.50 as he hammered 72 in his team’s top-of-the-table clash at home to Upper Hopton.

David Paynter has been phenomenal with the bat all season for Clayton. (Image: Tom Smith.)

Four colleagues added knocks of 20 plus as a score of 202-9 was posted, with Charlie Gallagher taking 5-35.

The divisional leaders, in reply, made a dreadful start at 6-4, and there was no way back.

Only Callum Fern (59) produced any batting form as four home bowlers shared the wickets, with six Hopton batters failing to score in a total of 103.

The result means second-placed Clayton moving within nine points of Hopton at the top.

Great Horton Park Chapel also gained ground on the leaders in what has now become a three-team race for promotion, with them being 10 points adrift of Hopton.

Park Chapel posted a challenging 276-9 on their visit to Mytholmroyd, skipper Adam Beesley (87) leading the way, as Matthew Scholefield took 5-73.

The Royd made a determined effort in reply as Thomas Conway (85) and James Cowen (55) headed the scoring, but they fell 16 runs short at 260 on the penultimate ball.

Horton had Marshall Grieve (5-48) and Richard Winn (5-75) to thank for their sterling work with the ball.

In the Second Division, the two teams that asked their opponents to bat first both won.

Queensbury, who were one of them, beat visitors Southowram by five wickets.

Sohail Sajjad (50) top-scored for the Rams as Gareth Walker took 5-50.

Adam Sloane (48) led the run chase, with the home team closing on 159-5 as the promotion race for the 12-club First Division for 2025 hots up.

At Leymoor, the home team batted first against Oakworth and scored 190, seven batters hitting double figures as Tom Fothergill took 6-61.

Oakworth had no problem achieving the target with a winning 191-5.

James Powell (84) was in the runs again, with Jake Keslinke hitting 49 in the successful reply.

Oakworth stay in second place in the table, now enjoying a gap of 17 points over Old Town.

Meanwhile, there was a tight finish at Mount, where Cullingworth visited and narrowly won to keep their own promotion hopes alive.

They scored 192-3, with Steve Welch (88) and Elliot Robinson (68) scoring the bulk of the runs.

Mount made a brave attempt at the target and, with the score at 158-6, they had an even chance.

The vital wicket for Cullingworth came when Anees Rawat (67) was dismissed at 183-9, and the innings closed the next ball, nine runs short.

While Elliot Robinson (2-37) is on a hat-trick with his first ball next Saturday, it was James Bloodworth who did the most damage with 5-47.