Championship round-up for 30 July

Leaders Aston Hall had to work hard against Shiregreen, the only team to have beaten them in the league this season. After putting the home side in to bat, a strong all-round bowling performance soon from the visitors was the foundation of their win. Three wickets each from Tom Coulson and Nasir Omar helped reduce Shiregreen to 52-8, before Hamzah Younis added 50 for the ninth wicket with Muhammad Khan. Johannes Bothma, with his third wicket, dismissed Younis for 49 from 57 balls to end the partnership, and Adam Clarke ended the innings by dismissing Khan at the same score. The chase was no straightforward matter for Aston Hall. Imran Khan took the first two wickets with just 23 on the board; then Younis completed a final all-round performance with four wickets to reduce the visitors to 77-6. But despite Nasir Omar having to retire shortly afterwards, Rob Ward and Bothma saw their side to a victory that sees them lead the table by 28 points. 

 

Shiregreen 102 (33.1) Hamzah Younis 49, Johannes Bothma 3-27, Tom Coulson 3-30, Nasir Omar 3-12 

Aston Hall 103-6 (31.4) Nasir Omar 43*, Hamzah Younis 4-29 

 

Hallam clocked up a twelfth win of the season to keep their noses in front of Wickersley Old Village in second place in the table. Having asked Rockingham Colliery to bat first at Hoyland Common, they made early inroads when four wickets from Christian Leddicoat saw the home side slump to 49-5. Harry Grindle stood firm, and added 66 with Aquib Shaikh to affect a partial recovery. Skipper Andy Baker helped Shaikh to add a further 38 for the seventh wicket, before Rob Heyes mopped up the tail to leave Shaikh stranded on 62. Hallam lost Nick Dymock early, but twenties and thirties from Alex Hughes, Robert Basu and Romir Singh lifted them to 94-4, despite Jawad Akhtar taking three wickets for the home side. Leddicoat and Joe Cooper then finished the job with an unbroken stand of 69. Hallam’s promotion bid remains on track, but it is looking bleak for Rockingham who remain second-bottom. 

 

Rockingham C 161 (42.5) Harry Grindle 50, Aquib Shaikh 62*, Christian Leddicoat 4-27, Robert Heyes 3-15 

Hallam 163-4 (31.4) Robert Basu 31, Christian Leddicoat 41*, Jawad Akhtar 3-29 

 

Wickersley Old Village kept the pressure on Hallam, just six points ahead of them in the table, by ending Sheffield Collegiate’s six-match winning run at Northfield Lane. It was not a straightforward matter though. Having been put in to bat, the home side reached 80-1, after a solid start through Mark Cummins and Gareth Purshouse, before Ben Fielding took his second and third wickets, and Cummins was run out, to leave them 109-4. Isaac Spencer-Jones then hit 30 off 19 balls took make it 146-4, but five wickets then fell for 28 runs, three to Tate Miller, and Wickersley had to settle for 175-9 in an innings reduced by rain to 42 overs. In reply, Collegiate were soon behind the clock and lost wickets regularly, three to Cummins, and slipped to 82-5 before Andy Simpson came in to score 41 off 30 balls, adding 67 in partnership with Miller, to give the visitors hope. But after Simpson was bowled by Oliver Blackburn, and Collegiate finished 13 short. 

 

Wickersley OV 175-9 (42) Mark Cummins 35, Isaac Spencer-Jones 30, Ben Fielding 4-47, Tate Miller 4-71 

Sheffield C 2 162-6 (42) Andy Simpson 41, Mark Cummins 3-64 

 

Barnsley Woolley Miners 2nds elected to bat first on their visit to play Houghton Main at Middlecliffe Lane, but soon slipped to 33-4 after Danish Hussain took a couple of early wickets. Zak Jahangir and William Nicholson added 57 for the fourth wicket before four more wickets fell for 29 runs and the visitors looked in trouble at 119-8. But Jordan Slattery and Waqas Tanveer (39 off 29 balls) added 71 for the ninth wicket to take their side to a more respectable 190. It was still a target the home side would have expected to reach, but Luke Ogden, who came in at number 3 with 37 on the board, saw six wickets fall at the other end, and Houghton fell to 114-7; Boeta Beukes taking four wickets for the visitors. Ogden finally found a partner in Hussain, and these two put on 71 to take their side to within six runs of victory. Then Beukes dismissed both Ogden and Teriq Worrell, Hussain fell to Slattery, and the last three wickets had fallen for just two runs. It was a game that the home side will certainly feel they should have won, but it represented a valuable win for the Shaw Lane side in their efforts to keep clear of the bottom two. 

 

Barnsley WM 2 190 (47.3) Waqas Tanveer 39, Dylan Smythe 3-36, Michael Bates 3-26 

Houghton M 187 (42.2) Brent Law 35, Luke Ogden 63, Danish Hussain 46, Boeta Beukes 6-53 

 

There was a straightforward win for Wath away to bottom club Green Moor after the visitors had asked the home side to bat first. After two early wickets for Jack Whitlam, Ben Simpson and skipper Chris Matthewman added 47 for the third wicket, and Matthewman added 43 for the fifth with Wayne Hughes, but the rest of the batting perished against the Wath attack. Bradley Williams and Ainsley Swallow ensured the visitors' win with a second-wicket stand of 106, and in the end, Wath had 20 overs and seven wickets to spare. Sadly, Green Moor’s tenure in the Championship looks destined to be a short one, whilst Wath, level on points with Sprotbrough in eighth, are only 26 points behind Shiregreen in fourth, and could use this as a springboard for a bright ending to the season. 

 

Green Moor 152-9 (50) Ben Simpson 36, Chris Matthewman 34, Jack Whitlam 4-26, Rob Barlow 3-47 

Wath 153-3 (30) Ainsley Swallow 59, Bradley Williams 60 

 

Another side to be asked to bat first were Sprotbrough, at home to Conisbrough. After Thomas Pepper and Alex Rudkin had put on 57 for the first wicket, the home side stumbled to 77-4 as Hassan Bin Shahab took his first three wickets. Harry Graham and Dean Williamson then added 87 for the fifth wicket, and Ashley Langdale added an unbeaten 27 off 21 balls at the end to ensure that Sprotbrough had a decent total to bowl against. Conisbrough needed a decent start, but they were soon 40-4 after Daniel Wright's three early wickets. Buddhika Sanjeewa added a bright 33 off 33 balls and then Bin Shahab scored 47 at number eight, but the visitors did not find the big innings they needed to threaten their target. Sprotbrough narrowed the gap to their visitors in seventh place to just two points. 

 

Sprotbrough 230-7 (48) Alex Rudkin 34, Harry Graham 39, Dean Williamson 33, Hassan Bin Shahab 4-66 

Conisbrough 176-9 (48) Mathew Lowe 38, Buddhika Sanjeewa 33, Hassan Bin Shahab 47, Daniel Wright 3-24, Ashley Langdale 4-64