There were a couple of cracking finishes and one bizarre ending on Saturday in the Mewies Solicitors Craven League.
In the clash of the day, First Division leaders Bingley Congs, travelled to Thornton and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Booth Bridge Lane side batted first and amassed 229-6, with David Scothern making an unbeaten 96 and David Holt 49 – the pair putting on 107 for the third wicket.
Chris Hemsley was the backbone of the reply with 88. He perished with the score on 199-5 and it was all downhill for the Beckfoot Lane side as they crashed to 225 all out. Scothern was the destroyer in chief with 4-33 off eight overs.
Congs retain top spot, however, leading by two points, after joint top Cullingworth went down by 47 runs at Haworth Road.
Mohammed Adil helped the hosts to 197-9 after they had collapsed to 58-6, with Bevan Ravenscroft taking 4-64 and Chris Welch 3-29. Omar Khatab (54) top- scored for the Roydwood Terrace side as Mansha Khan finished with 5-61.
Haworth Road move up to joint second, along with Haworth, who travelled to Cononley and enjoyed a comfortable seven-wicket victory.
The home side were restricted to 72-9, the Bronte side cruising home, Jamie Rowell leading the way with 49no.
Barrowford secured their third win of the campaign at home to Bradley. Freddy Bailey made a sparkling 93no and Nabeel Ahmed 60 as the Bull Holme side posted 191-6.
In reply the South Craveners slumped to 100 all out as Danny Jones took 4-54 off 17 overs and Matthew Clark 4-9 off six overs.
Embsay got a welcome three points when they travelled to Cowling and won by five wickets. The hosts slumped to 45-5 before Martyn Dalby (43) and Sid Hassan (45) put on 78 for the sixth wicket, which helped the score to 152-9.
The Shires Laners lost a couple of early wickets, then David Wellock (46), Duncan Ward (33) and Rob Bateman (43) took them to the spoils.
Oakworth showed they are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season after they demolished champions Crossflatts by nine wickets at Cure Hill. Matt House (5-24) and Steve Filkin (5-45) had the visitors back in the hut for 71. Paul Spragg made 47no as victory was achieved in the ninth over.
Sandy Lane take over joint top of the Second Division after they beat previous leaders Sutton at Royd Hill.
Luke Ellis cracked 76 as the visitors made 212-8 in their overs, with Chris Williams taking 3-80. The home side never got to grips with their task and perished for 141, with David Snowden making 35 as Ellis claimed 3-25 and Matthew Roberts 3-26.
Ingrow join Sandy Lane at the top after they beat their neighbours Long Lee by two wickets at Hainworth.
The Golden View side made 167 with Jonathan Green making 35 as Ian Roberts took 5-51. In the successful reply, Lee Humphreys top-scored with 38 as Matt Taylor took 3-28.
Wilsden must be kicking themselves after they went down by two runs at Windy Grove. Chatburn made 200, with Mark Nerenberg hitting nine sixes and 11 fours in his 94 as Adrian Stafford-Bennett claimed 5-88.
In reply, Steve Wright (53) and Dave Henson put on 120 for the first wicket. Then Russell Braithwaite got to work he finished with 7-41 off 13 overs as the home side slumped from 190-5 to 198 all out, the last wicket falling off the final ball.
Naveed Hussain made a sparkling 125 and Nasar Kamal 60 as Riddlesden rattled up 266-6 at home to Pendle Forest. The pair put on 131 for the first wicket. In the reply of 157, Andrew Townsend scored 39 as Adam Khan took 4-33 and Steve Ayres 3-38.
Airedale posted a moderate 147 against Glusburn, with Alex Pue making 37 as Mark Pickles took 5-31 and Brian Hollis 3-14.
After Nadeem Zaman (3-22) made initial inroads into the Park Field batters, Joe Milner took 5-35 to have them back in the hutch for 105.
David Spokes had a big game for Foulridge as they beat Embsay II by eight wickets at Shires Lane, Embsay were going along quite well at 83-1, then Spokes (5-27) and K Ishfaq (3-38) had them back in the hut for 131. In reply Spokes scored 79no to see the Noyna side home.
In the Third Division, Gargrave encountered few problems as they shot Eldwick & Gilstead out for a measly 73, with Tony Spensley taking 4-21 and Ollie Wild 4-26. The Skipton Road side cruised home by eight wickets.
Haworth Road II's good form deserted them at Street Lane. Mohammed Shahnawaz made a fantastic 157 in Ingrow St John’s' 249-9. The Baildon Bottom side replied with a miserable 77 as M Qadeer finished with 5-8 from 25 balls.
Joe Holt (5-45), Joe Bottomley (64) and Graham Trueman (50) were the stars in Haworth West End's six-wicket victory at Glusburn.
Russell Hogg (3-3) and Dave Etherington (3-15) helped nine-man Cononley II back to the hut for 63, with skipper Joel Granger making 47. The innings contained six ducks. In reply Cullingworth romped home by ten wickets, with Stu Rogers making 45no.
The bizarre finish came at Skipton CI. Opponents Oakworth II had struggled to 92 as Steve Davidson took 6-34 and John Drake 3-51.
The hosts collapsed to 35-7 before Sam Walker (46) and Drake took the score to 87-8.
Another wicket fell at 89 before one run was added, making it three to win one wicket to take. The bowler bowls, the batsman and wicket-keeper both miss the ball which goes on and hits the keeper’s helmet lying on the floor! Five penalty runs and three points to CI. Ian Jackson took 5-23 and Andy Smith 4-23 for the Cure Hill side.
Barrowford II head the Fourth Division after a comfortable six-wicket victory over Long Lee II at Golden View.
Simon Webster (35), Steve Butterfield (34) and Phil Atkinson (32) helped the home side to 167 before Ajmal Choudrhy (62) and David Wilkinson (36) put on 99 for the first wicket, which laid the platform for the red rose side's success.
Ingrow St John’s II are second after their comprehensive 63-run victory over Sandy Lane II at Greenwood Park.
N Riaz's sparkling 123 and R Hussain's 58 saw the Saints to 231. Then, despite 60 from T Rana and 49 from S Mahmood, the hosts slumped to defeat.
Little Marsden were too strong for visitors Riddlesden II, winning by 84 runs, and Ingrow II crashed by eight wickets at Chatburn II.
Jago Bean hit 84no as Bradley II scored 239-6 at home to Wilsden II, who could only muster 142 in reply as Andy Holmes took 4-55.
In the basement battle at Pendle Forest II, visitors Bradford & Bingley III got their first victory of the season, although it didn’t look too rosy when the West Yorkshire side were dismissed for 92. However, it was 37 too many for the Fence side.
In the Fifth Division, Bingley Congs II retain their share of the leadership after a 64-run victory over Sutton II.
Tony Spensley 4-21 and 38no, along with 4-26 from Olli Wild, helped Gargrave II to stay level with Bingley Congs II when they beat Eldwick & Gilstead II by eight wickets at Dick Hudson’s.
Thornton II are also joint top following their four- wicket victory over Oakworth III at Carleton. They were indebted to a determined knock of 70 by evergreen Tim Gates.
Airedale II completes the quartet of joint leaders. They won by 61 runs up at Haworth WE II, with their man of the match being veteran Giles Wilmore who took 6-20.
Cowling II beat Foulridge II by eight wickets at Noyna, with Sajid Shafait taking 6-28 and Zahid Shafait scoring 62no. This after seasoned campaigner Bill Lutz had made 42no for the home side.
Finally Paul Greenwood hit 107 to set up a 102-run victory for Denholme II over ten-man Skipton CI, for whom the mercurial Mel Mason made 34.
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