Championship division round-up for 16 July

One played two on Saturday, and the result extended Aston Hall’s cruise to the Premier Division. They lead by 28 points – more than two wins – and 34 points – almost three wins distant from the third-placed club, which is the only threat to their promotion. There are just nine games left. Things would have to go remarkably wrong to spoil their party now. 

 

 

Conisbrough have had a tough time with their fixtures – Aston Hall last week, Hallam this. They’ve lost both, but they made a real fight of it against Hallam. Everybody contributed despite the heat. No-one made 50, but they still scored 224 in 47 overs, thanks principally to Mathew Lowe who partnered the early order with 48, Buddhika Sanjeewa who did the same with the middle order for 44, and Jonathan Redfern who stayed with the tail and was 28 not out at the close. Hallam’s wickets were mainly taken by the spinners, Alex Coates and Harman Puni, three each, but the risks that batsmen had to take were because the early pace bowlers, especially James Smedley and Christian Leddicoat, had bowled tightly and restricted scoring. And there were four victims again and no byes for the keeper. On a hard, dry batting track, it makes the difference between a gettable total and one that is allowed to get out of reach. That’s what happened to Conisbrough the last time the two sides played. Hallam scored 335-5 of which Nick Dymock made 181 (which coincidentally was the winning margin). This time he made 12 and Conisbrough had both openers back for 58. There was then a crucial partnership of 96 between Will Newton and Christian Leddicoat, that looked as though it was going to take the game on its own, but Leddicoat was caught, again, before he could make fifty and Conisbrough piled through the gap, to their great credit, turning a game that was almost lost into one that could have been won, were it not for Newton who batted on, refusing to drop the apple, and, despite the close attentions of Sanjeewa and Hassan Bin Shahab, found another partner, first in Harman Puni and then Alex Coates, to take Hallam home, with nine overs still to play. Sounds easy, but these are the games that have to be won if Hallam are to join Aston Hall on the podium at the end of the season. 

 

Conisbrough 224 (47.2) Matthew Lowe 48, Buddikha Sanjeewa 44, Alex Coates 3-68, Harman Puni 3-52 

Hallam 225-7 (40.5) Will Newton 77*, Christian Leddicoat 41, Hassan Bin Shahab 4-52, Buddhika Sanjeewa 3-70 

 

 

At the start of the season, Collegiate 2nds couldn’t stop losing, now it’s the other way round – even when winning seems unlikely. Teriq Worrell from Houghton tore through their early batting on Saturday and had them 21-4. Ben Fielding started a recovery, but when he was out they were 74-6. Matt Williams and Andy Simpson pulled them round with a partnership of 41 (of which Williams made 30), but Simpson carried on and by the time he was out, after putting on another 46 with Tate Miller (of which Miller made 29), they had reached 167, a great recovery given their start, but nevertheless not really a winning score against one of the top teams in the division. By contrast, Houghton set off with an opening partnership of 58, led by Michael Brown, and when he was out for 52, they were 91-3 – well over half way there, with plenty of batting to come. However, it was Tate Miller’s day. To go with his 29 crucial runs, he picked up the first three batsmen and then another three in quick succession with Tom Eldred. The score slumped from 114-3 to 126-9. Remarkable! But it wasn’t over yet. Usman Khan came in at no 10 and biffed four sixes and a four in 12 balls and took Houghton up to 159; just two more boundaries to get when Eldred trapped him lbw to win the match. What a game! 

 

Sheffield Collegiate 2 167 (46.4) Andy Simpson 40, Matt Williams 30, Teriq Worrell 6-46 

Houghton Main 159 (44.5) Michael Brown 52, Usman Khan 30, Tate Miller 6-73, Tom Eldred 4-29 

 

 

Just as last week against Green Moor, this was a must win game for Rockingham if they are going to haul themselves out of the relegation zone. Barnsley were 16 points above them – one win and a few bonus points. After Saturday Barnsley are 28 points ahead – more than two wins – and survival is looking increasingly less likely. Rockingham’s early batters played with great determination. Harry Grindle made 63 in 129 balls and with 43 from Mikey Denton, had them 137 for two. When Grindle was run out, Rockingham were 160-5. Some of the bowlers had been going for five an over, but Boeta Beukes bowled eleven overs for 33 and his partner Jordan Slattery had a remarkable second spell taking six wickets, mainly bowled or lbw, and ending with figures of 12.4 overs, five maidens, six for 16. He was much too good for Rockingham’s tail-enders and the home side collapsed to 181 all out, with two runs between the last six batters. Still, it was a total to get and yet Barnsley had no problem overtaking it. Nathan Swift and Freddie Chapman raised 50 in 38 balls. Chapman and Zak Jahangir put on 51 for the next wicket and Chapman and Stevie Walters added another 55. Barnsley won by seven wickets with 17 overs to spare. Freddie Chapman made 67 in 74 balls with ten fours. 

 

Rockingham C 181 (45.4) Harry Grindle 63, Mikey Denton 43, Jordan Slattery 6-16 

Barnsley WM 2 182-3 (32.5) Freddie Chapman 67, Stevie Walters 39*, Nathan Swift 31 

Barnsley Woolley Miners 2nds (12pts) beat Rockingham Colliery (0) by seven wickets 

 

Shiregreen v Green Moor  

 

Green Moor started four points behind Rockingham. They made 172-7 against Shiregreen, but, like Rockingham, should have made much more. They were 100-2, thanks to Ben Simpson and Chris Matthewman, but collapsed to 122-7, mainly owing to the Khans, Imran and Muhammad, before being rescued by an unbroken 50 stand between Julian Bates and Jake Rodgers. They bowled well too, reducing Shiregreen to 30-3. Aslam Hayat and Hammad Usman put on 118 for the fourth wicket, but Green Moor kept fighting and took another three wickets (including run-machine Hamzah Younis for a duck) before Shiregreen passed their total. Hayat played the innings of the match, with 83 not out in 99 balls, including eleven fours and two sixes. Jake Rodgers took 3-55 and helped his team to two bonus points, which nudges them closer to Rockingham. Shiregreen are back up to fourth. 

 

Green Moor 172-7 (50) Ben Simpson 44, Muhammad Khan 3-49 

Shiregreen 175-6 (40.5) Aslam Hayat 83*, Hammad Usman 45, Jake Rodgers 3-55 

 

 

Last week Wath beat Houghton Main with ease. This week they were outplayed in every department by Sprotbrough, who made 225 and bowled out the visitors for 159. Daniel Wright hit 76 in 116 balls, with nine 4s and two 6s. He and Rocco Cook put on 64 for the fifth wicket. The Whitlams got all the wickets for Wath - Sam took 5-66 and Jack 3-34 – but their star batters couldn’t dominate the game the way they had against Houghton. Ainsley Swallow made a bright start with 22 in 24 balls and Bradley Williams hit seven 4s in 37, but both fell to Matt Webb, and there was no big innings or massive partnership to take the game to Sprotbrough. Scott Mantovani mopped up the middle and while Jack Whitlam and Patrick Selkirk brought a bit of respectability to the final total, they finished a long way behind their opponents who thus overtake them in the table 

 

Sprotbrough 225 (50) Daniel Wright 76, Rocco Cook 36, Sam Whitlam 5-66, Jack Whitlam 3-34 

Wath 159 (36.4) Bradley Williams 37, Jack Whitlam 30, Scott Mantovani 5-31, Matt Webb 4-61 

 

 

Wickersley never really got going against Aston Hall. Johannes Bothma removed Mark Cummins early, which left the gate open and the first five wickets fell for 26. There was a vigorous flexing of the tail as so often for Wickersley this season. Abu Sufyan made 46. He and Isaac Spencer-Jones took the score to 100-7 and with Charlie Harrison and Ifti Afzal the final score was lifted to 168, but it was never going to be enough. Most of Aston Hall’s batters made runs – twenties and thirties – and Joe Stickland top scored with 46. Mark Cummins took 4-42 but they reached their target comfortably for five down with eleven overs to spare. So Aston continue to sail away at the top of the table – they’ll be relieved to know that they are now mathematically safe from relegation – whilst Wickersley drop behind Hallam again. There’s a long way to go though, and Hallam have yet to play Aston Hall again. That’s the last match of the season. 

 

Wickersley Old Village 168 (49.5) Abu Sufyan 46, Tom Coulson 3-39, Josh Coulson 3-43 

Aston Hall 169-5 (39.1) Joe Stickland 46, Nasir Omar 33, Mark Cummins 4-42