Lowly Wilsden crushed by narrow defeat to Hepworth & Idle

For the second time in three weeks, Wilsden lost with three balls of the final over remaining.

This time, bottom-of-the-table Wilsden were at Hepworth & Idle and made 231 after choosing to have first knock.

Mohammed Taha Iftikhar (31) and Sikandar Mahmood (51), back after suspension, put on 67 for the first wicket, and Iftikhar continued the good work with 58 for the third wicket with Majid Jahangir (57), who then put on 65 for the fourth with skipper Sam Mitchell (44).

Alex Robinson took 3-44 and Tom Hawksworth, the sixth bowler used, 4-39.

Opener Yousaf Iqbal (51) gave the Westfield Laners’ innings a boost, but it needed an 82-run stand between Hawksworth (51) and keeper Luke Harland (26) to keep them on course.

Jay Bhangoo (24) then added 49 with Hawksworth for the seventh wicket, before Jonathan Robinson (36 not out) saw Hepworth & Idle to a two-wicket victory.

That final-over defeat was tough on Mitchell, whose 4-44 had helped reduce Hepworth & Idle to 75-7, the winners climbing one place to fourth as a result.

Haworth Road Meths remain second after defeating second-from-bottom Haworth by 61 runs at Baildon Bottom.

Opener Naseeb Ali (46) and No.3 Mansha Khan (55) did well up top for Meths, with Shahid Saleem (52no) and keeper Farhan Khan (38) contributing well in the middle order.

Haworth were then dismissed for 162, with Mansha Khan taking 3-33, Saleem 3-35 and Ammar Ahmed 2-17.

Shahid Saleem excelled with bat and ball as Haworth Road Meths beat Haworth comfortably. (Image: Andy Garbutt.)

Eldwick & Gilstead dropped one place to fifth after being on the wrong end of a run fest at Grange Road.

Riddlesden, in a battle of landlords and tenants, were sent in and made 338-6, but E&G replied with a creditable 270, Mihir Dighe (28) and Matthew Sharp (39) putting on 64 for the second wicket before the mayhem really started.

No.6 Rob Unsworth (77) added 141 for the seventh wicket with Jordan Bayliss (85), the pair hitting 23 boundaries between them, but their explosive efforts were not enough.

There are new leaders in Division Two, with Bowling Baptists taking advantage of Silsden’s slip up at Airedale.

Sutton won the toss at the Manningham-based hosts but, minus Dave Snowden and Sam Solley, were dismissed for 71 in just 19.1 overs, with Muhammad Zulfiqar Khan taking 4-12 and Ishtiaq Raza 3-12.

Baptists almost won by 10 wickets as Zulfiqar Khan scored 43 off 31 balls, including seven fours and two sixes, and added 69 for the first wicket with Mohammed Zahid, who finished on 24 not out.

An emphatic victory was achieved in a reply that only took 9.2 overs.

Bottom-of-the-table Hepworth & Idle II lost by 37 runs at Cononley, who made 165 after being sent in, Swaraj Thakur taking 4-51 and Martin McCulley 2-19.

Despite six players reaching double figures in the reply, Hepworth & Idle could only score 128, headed by opener Mark Davies’ 25.

In Division Three, fifth-placed Bradford & Bingley III got the better of seventh-placed derby rivals Bingley Congs III at Sandy Lane, making 250-7 after being sent in.

Bingley were 118-6 after Shahbaz Ahmed scored 27 and Arsaalan Shaukat 24, but the real impetus came from Tom Watson (57) and Irfan Ul Haque (80no), who added 132 for the seventh wicket.

Michael Baines returned 3-57, but that was always likely to prove too big a total to chase.

Congs were 76-6, skipper Luka Atanaskovic scoring 24, before Tahir Arshad (81) and Sarfraz Mahmood (20) improved proceedings to help them to 197.

Arshad was only in for 24 balls but hit seven fours and four sixes, with Farhan Khalid taking 4-21 and Ozair Ahmed 4-61.

Bottom-of-the-table Wilsden II were no match for Gargrave II, who dismissed the hosts for 119 after winning the toss, despite 27 from Mudassar Riaz.

Gargrave replied with 119-3 in 34 overs, but needed an unbroken partnership of 60 to do it.

In Division Four, third-placed Glusburn II and fourth-placed Bowling Baptists II swapped places after the latter won by 141 runs.

Choosing to have first go, Baptists made 239-5, an innings that was dominated by opener Adnaan Shafique’s 146 not out, which contained 19 fours and three sixes.

Glusburn were then skittled for 98 inside 29 overs by Aysaan Munawar (3-17), Shazaid Yousaf (2-9) and Muhammad Daim Farooq (2-18).

Hepworth & Idle III were involved in a thrilling match at Menston V, who put the Westfield Laners in.

They totalled 184-3, largely thanks to a fourth-wicket partnership of 73 between Gary Wilkinson (74no) and Freddie Leadbeater (34no).

But that total was not enough, and Menston were seen to a four-wicket victory with three balls left, despite Wazeer Ahmed taking 3-40.