Championship division round-up for 23 April

There was much jostling on the grid on Saturday as several teams sought to recover from a disappointing first run-out and establish a good position for their pursuit of the Championship. 

 

 

Aston Hall were on pole position and so they remain, although not without a few nerves, in a high scoring run fest at Conisbrough that ended with just six runs between the teams out of nearly six hundred. Mark Barnard set the standard with 121 from as many balls and was well supported by Joe Stickland (35) and Nasir Omar (46), with Rob Ward biffing things around at the end to take Aston Hall to 293-7. Buddhika Sanjeewa took five wickets but went for 94 in his 15 overs. Conisbrough needed a good start if they were going to get close and numbers 2-6 obliged with Danyaal Latif leading the charge with 89 (70 of which came in boundaries). Joe Farmer, Will Scott and Gary Strephan all supported him, and Sanjeewa hit 70 in 43 balls in a sixth-wicket partnership of 59 with Josh Whittaker (who contributed 4), taking Conisbrough to 275-5 when he was out. Still, with 19 to win and about three overs to go the odds were on the home side, surely. Aston Hall would need some straight quick bowling to pierce the increasingly desperate swings of the tail and Tom Coulson and Johannes Bothma provided that, with two batsmen clean bowled and two LBW, leaving Whittaker stranded at the other end. Conisbrough collapsed to 287 all out, with still an over to go and Aston Hall lead the race – but it’s a long way to go to the podium. 

 

Aston Hall 293-7 (50) Mark Barnard 121, Nasir Omar 46, Joe Stickland 35, Rob Ward 31*, Buddhika Sanjeewa 5-94 

Conisbrough 287 (49) Danyaal Latif 89, Buddhika Sanjeewa 70, Joe Farmer 38, Gary Strephan 32, Johannes Bothma 4-56, Tom Coulson 4-72 

 

 

Collegiate 2nds, as so often, accumulated a respectable score without cutting loose - usually enough for their experienced and parsimonious bowling attack to control the game. They had a steady opening partnership of 77 by Adam Burkinshaw and George Bartlett (helped by some wild Hallam wides). Tate Miller and Ed McKenna (as in the week before) then took the score on into the 150s but Hallam worked hard to wrest it back. Ed Burch, 1-43 from 15 and Christian Leddicoat 2-33 from 10 bowled half the overs between them for 76, so Collegiate’s 194-7 remained achievable. Without Ben Fielding, their young attack was not as experienced or controlled as so often before. Alex Hughes and the returning Rob Basu (56) put on 91 for the first wicket and though Tate Miller then picked up three major wickets, another returnee, Romir Singh, was able to lead his team to a comfortable five-wicket win with an unbeaten half century. 

 

Sheffield Collegiate 2nds 194-7 (50) Ed McKenna 45, George Bartlett 31 

Hallam 196-5 (46.5) Rob Basu 56, Romir Singh 51*, Alex Hughes 34, Tate Miller 3-59 

 

 

Wath had another high scoring contest but this time ended up on the winning side and it started with the toss as Wath elected to bowl. Steve Honeyman Jnr had Houghton Main in all sorts of trouble at 33-4, but not for nothing have Houghton been regular championship contenders and National Village finalists, and they set about repairing the damage. Yousaf Rehman (25) brought them up to 77, before Simon Ward (80) and Danish Hussain (53) put on 84 together, turned the innings completely round to close on 235 all out from 46 overs. Rob Barlow and Sam Whitlam took three wickets each but went for five an over. However Wath had watched how well the pitch had played, and despite Michael Bates and Teriq Worrell trying their best, Bradley Williams was able to score one of his irresistible centuries, hitting 129 from 120 balls with ten 4s and seven 6s, and by the time he was out, caught Worrell bowled Bates, Wath were on 231-5 and the game was over seven runs later with six overs to go. 

 

Houghton Main 235 (46) Simon Ward 80, Danish Hussain 53, Sam Whitlam 3-41, Rob Barlow 3-60 

Wath 238-5 (43.3) Bradley Williams 129 

 

 

Both sides lost in their first matches, so both would have been very keen to make amends on Saturday. Rockingham won the toss and chose to field, which has generally been a winning ploy so far, with still a little dampness in the pitch early on. Green Moor though, applied themselves and although none of the early batsmen scored more than Ben Simpson’s 26, they made a steady start. Then Aquib Shaikh and Zobair Khaliq began to make inroads and when Anthony Godley came to the wicket it was 94-5. Godley settled in and with Jake Rodgers and Jack Berry moved the score on to 175-7 by the close. Something to bowl at, at least – and so it proved. Rodgers and his colleagues reduced Rockingham to 85-6. Joe Evans put down roots and held his side together, making 51 in 118 balls, the highest score of the match, but Rodgers returned to snuff out the hope of a revival and Rockingham were all out for 151, with two overs to go. 

 

Green Moor 175-7 (50) Anthony Godley 40, Aquib Shaikh 3-47 

Rockingham Colliery 151 (48.1) Joe Evans 51, Jake Rodgers 5-24, Chris Matthewman 3-53 

 

 

After a disappointing start last week, Barnsley made a much better fist of things at Sprotbrough, with Oliver Bennett making the day’s highest score of 143 in 128 balls, with 23 4s and three 6s. Earlier Nathan Swift (last week’s hero) had helped them to a good start. Sadrian Ward and Daniel Wright got two wickets apiece for Sprotbrough but they weren’t able to remove Bennett until the last over, by which time Barnsley had made 238-6. When Sprotbrough batted there were several promising starts – Wright and Sadrian Ward again combining, and Ashley Langdale enjoyed himself at the end, with six 4s in 21 balls, but Barnsley bowled very straight – there were five LBWs and four people bowled- with Haider Jahangir returning for yet another season with 4-44 in 15. So Sprotbrough could only manage 177 in 44.2 overs, and lost by 61 runs. 

 

Barnsley Woolley Miners 238-6 (50) Oliver Bennett 143, Nathan Swift 32 

Sprotbrough 177 (44.2) Ashley Langdale 30, Haider Jahangir 4-44 

 

 

Wickersley had a nail-biting finish to win last week – and it might have been the same again were it not for Hamzah Younis. They batted first and made a promising start, with Mark Cummins and Johnny Younis taking them to 67-1. Then Muhammad Khan and Hamzah Younis came on to mesmerise the batsmen. Nos 5-10 made three runs between them, reducing Wickersley to 97-9. Connor Snelgrove and Cummins put on 40 for the last wicket, Snelgrove making 16 in 38 balls and Cummins, who batted all through, accumulating an unbeaten 48 in 160. Wickersley ended on 133, and would have had realistic hopes of crafting a win from it when Ahmad Bashir had Shiregreen 49-5. Hamzah Younis however had other ideas, making 52 in 62 balls and with Muhammad Naseem, who played the Snelgrove role – 15 from 44 balls – put on a remarkable partnership, in the context of the game, of 84 for the 6th wicket. Naseem was bowled by Harvey Wootton in his only over (“Why didn’t you bowl me earlier, skip?”) but by then there was only one run to win, which was fittingly left for Hamzah Younis to score. 

 

Wickersley OV 133 (48.4) Mark Cummins 48*, Muhammad Khan 4-19, Hamzah Younis 4-22 

Shiregreen 134-6 (30.5) Hamzah Younis 52*, Ahmad Bashir 4-36 

 

Aston Hall and Hallam both have maximum points from two games, with Barnsley, Conisbrough and Rockingham winless at the lother end of the table. 

 

 

Full scorecards