Championship Division round-up for 23 July

Leaders Aston Hall took another big step towards their return to the Premier Division with a resounding win over challengers Houghton Main at Green Lane. After electing to bat first, the home side soon lost two wickets to Dylan Smythe, but Nasir Omar helped Joe Stickland start a recovery with a 44-run stand for the third wicket. Nathan Ward then entered the fray, and with Stickland, added a further 103 to put the leaders in a strong position, cemented when Lewis Sansome contributed an unbeaten 23 off 18 balls to give the leaders a very presentable 236-5 – Stickland ending his responsible innings unbeaten on 109 off 140 balls. But even then, Aston would not have expected such a comfortable win as followed. After Tom Coulson had dismissed Brent Law win only three runs on the board, home skipper Johannes Bothma took the next four wickets to leave the visitors’ challenge in tatters at 45-5. Matters did not improve either, and Bothma completed his second five-wicket haul of the season as Houghton were dismissed for 89. Aston Hall march on with a tenth consecutive win, but it will need a remarkable run for the visitors to rekindle their promotion hopes after four defeats in five. 

 

Aston Hall 236-5 (39.1) Joe Stickland 109*, Nathan Ward 35 

Houghton M 81 (18.1) Johannes Bothma 5-38, Tom Coulson 3-38 

 

Hallam kept hold of the second promotion place with a comfortable win over a Sprotbrough side who had won their last three. After opting to bat first at Crimicar, the visitors had appeared to be well set at 94-1, with Thomas Pepper having completed his half-century. But a devastating five-wicket burst from Joe Cooper, with two more from Harman Puni, including the key wicket of Pepper, saw them slump to 148-8. Harvey Thomas then came in to hit 53 off 38 balls and give his side something to bowl at, before Christian Leddicoat removed him and Matt Webb to bring the innings to an end. Alex Hughes and Nick Dymock effectively ended the game as a contest with a brisk opening stand of 121, and after Hughes had fallen to Nick Graves, Dymock continued serenely on until his side were just 23 short of victory, with an excellent 104 off 82 balls. 

 

Sprotbrough 192 (50) Thomas Pepper 62, Harvey Thomas 53, Christian Leddicoat 3-32, Joe Cooper 5-54 

Hallam 195-3 (30.2) Alex Hughes 44, Nick Dymock 104 

 

Although they got the result they needed, Wickersley Old Village’s first trip to Green Moor did not go quite as planned. Put in to bat by the home side, they were soon in trouble as Jake Rodgers took the wickets of Mark Cummins and Nathan Taylor with just four runs on the board. Jonathan Sanders then took over with an even more destructive burst, taking the next five wickets to leave the visitors reeling on 59-7. But Wickersley’s third place owes much to their ability to find runs lower down the order, and Harvey Wootton and Abu Sufyan put 103 for the eighth wicket, before number nine Sufyan departed for a remarkable 76 off 55 balls. Charlie Harrison, with an unbeaten twenty, then helped add another 34 to take his side to 196. It might not have been their best score of the season, but it represented a remarkable recovery, and, with their strong bowling, the visitors would have been confident. And so it proved, as the home side were soon 13-2, then after Ben Simpson and Jamie Dixon had raised hopes with a third wicket stand of 31, they lost six wickets for 45 to collapse to 89-8. Wayne Hughes took the fight to the bowlers with 88 off 59 balls, adding 58 with Jack Berry, who failed to score during their ninth-wicket stand, before becoming Mark Cummins’ fourth victim, and Iftikhar Afzal took his third to wrap it all up four runs later. Wickersley remain very much in the promotion hunt, but Green Moor’s first spell in the Championship looks destined to be brief. 

 

Wickersley Old Village 196 (49.3) Harvey Wootton 31, Abu Sufyan 76, Jake Rodgers 3-40, Jonathan Sanders 5-30 

Green Moor 153 (38.5) Wayne Hughes 88, Iftikhar Afzal 3-44, Mark Cummins 4-12 

 

Shiregreen have enjoyed a fine season back at this level, but they had to work hard to record their tenth win, and thus take revenge for their early season defeat against Wath. The home side decided to bat first at Moor Road and were given a sound base by James Barnard and Ainsley Swallow, who put on 72 for the first wicket. Bradley Williams then took them up to 164-3, but that was really as good as it got for them, as the visitors’ bowlers got on top, and pegged Wath back to 215-9 off their 50 overs. The visitors did not find batting straightforward either, and a couple of wickets for Sam Whitlam helped give Wath hope when they had Shiregreen 65-4. Aslam Hayat and Hamzah Younis then came together to add 66 for the fifth wicket to swing the game the visitors’ way. After Shawn Hopkins had dismissed Younis for the first of his three wickets, Hayat took the score on to 163-5, before being bowled by Rob Barlow for a patient half-century. That brought in Kamran Khan, who, after three more wickets had fallen at the other end to leave the visitors still wanting 22 when the ninth wicket fell, hit the match-winning six when the scores were level with ten balls left. It may be too much for Shiregreen to force themselves into the promotion places, but they are in a solid top half position; whilst Wath are joint-eighth – almost certainly safe from relegation but well short of where they would want to be. 

 

Wath 215-9 (50) James Barnard 40, Bradley Williams 56, Hamzah Younis 3-62 

Shiregreen 221-9 (48.2) Aslam Hayat 52, Hamzah Younis 32, Rob Barlow 3-51, Shawn Hopkins 3-44 

 

Rockingham Colliery won the toss and elected to bat first against Sheffield Collegiate 2nds at Hoyland Common. Despite the easrly loss of Ben Dalton, they progressed reasonably well, if rather slowly, to 93-2, thanks to Harry Grindle, Jack Riley and Mikey Denton. But then Tom Eldred, with three wickets, and Samuel Meadows, with two more to add to that of Grindle, took control, and the innings rather petered out at 149-9. When Collegiate replied, Aquib Shaikh and Jawad Akhtar made batting difficult for the visitors, sharing the seven wickets that fell. But when chasing such a modest target, it takes only one man to come off, and so it proved. Matt Tyas came in at 57-4 and hit an unbeaten 48 off 50 balls, with good support from Meadows in a sixth wicket stand of 53, to see his side home. After a miserable run of six successive defeats, Collegiate have now won eight out of nine, and will be uncomfortable opposition for the top four, whom they will meet in their next four games. For Rockingham, time is running out. 

 

Rockingham C 149-9 (50) Harry Grindle 42, Tom Eldred 3-44, Samuel Meadows 3-36 

Sheffield C 2 153-7 (39) Matt Tyas 48*, Aquib Shaikh 4-46, Jawad Akhtar 3-39 

 

Conisbrough occupy a solid mid-table position whereas their opponents on Saturday, Barnsley Woolley Miners 2nds, are looking for a couple of wins to make their position secure. The visitors won the toss and decided to put the home side in at Shaw Lane. Only Bilal Imtiaz, with a fine half-century, really got going for Barnsley, despite twenties from skipper Nathan Swift and keeper Ciaran Stenton. Hassan Bin Shahab did much of the damage for Conisbrough, with five victims, as wickets fell regularly. 150 did not look like an imposing target, but Waqas Tanveer took three early wickets, and at 46-4, Conibrough looked vulnerable. But Gary Strephan put an end to any nerves with a typically forceful unbeaten 51 not out off 55 balls, and the visitors were home by four wickets with almost 14 overs to spare. 

 

Barnsley WM 2 147 (31.5) Bilal Imtiaz 51, Buddhika Sanjeewa 3-56, Hassan Bin Shahab 5-32 

Conisbrough 150-6 (36.1) Gary Strephan 51*, Waqas Tanveer 3-50