Premier division round-up for 23 April

On a day of tight finishes, the closest game of all was at Field Lane, where Wakefield Thornes triumphed over a spirited Tickhill side by just one run. After asking the home side to bat first, Tickhill were punished by one of their old boys. Joe Billings continued his excellent start to the season with an excellent 103 in 113 balls – his second consecutive hundred – that held the Thornes innings together. His only significant support came from twenties by Kieran Donnachie and James Rhodes. When Tickhill replied, two wickets each from Matty Taylor and Brad Green reduced them to 56-4, but Jordan Lowe and Connor Fisher added 60 for the fifth wicket. After both had departed, Josh Court joined Sam Roby in an unbroken 101-run partnership for the seventh wicket that took their side to the very brink of victory. Court scarcely deserved to be on the losing side with a powerful unbeaten 69 off 63 balls to add to his three wickets earlier. Ten runs were needed off the final over, bowled by 16-year old Jawad Akhtar, who held his nerve really well to bowl two ‘dot balls’ when only two runs were needed off the last two balls. 

 

Wakefield T 238-9 (50) Joe Billings 103, Josh Court 3-69 

Tickhill 237-6 (50) Jordan Lowe 49, Sam Rob 39*, Josh Court 69*, Matty Taylor 3-71 

 

Another spirited second innings effort fell just short at Abbeydale, where Sheffield Collegiate just held on to beat Whiston Parish Church. After the visitors had asked Collegiate to bat first, Michael Goodchild and Luke Shutt put on 133 for first wicket. Four wickets then fell for 33 runs to some good bowling, two of them to Joe Norbury, before Shaaiq Choudhry and Henry Eldred added 86 for the fifth wicket. Collegiate’s 254-5 was possibly 20 runs short on a very good pitch. Whiston were 58-3 before Aamir Jamal first helped Danny Kemp to add 55 for the fourth wicket, then added 76 for the fifth with Norbury. After Jamal was out for 81 off 71 balls, Norbury and Lewis Pike put on 50 for the sixth wicket. Robert Shaw then returned to take two wickets in three overs, conceding only two in the last over when five were needed, and the visitors’ spirited effort ended just two runs short. 

 

Sheffield C 254-5 (50) Michael Goodchild 59, Luke Shutt 77, Shaaiq Choudhry 46*, Henry Eldred 46, Joe Norbury 3-70 

Whiston PC 252-7 (50) Danny Kemp 48, Aamir Jamal 81, Joe Norbury 36*, Lewis Pike 32, Robert Shaw 3-35 

 

At Dark Lane, Treeton elected to bat first and lost two early wickets against Cawthorne. They were then 46-3 when skipper Sam Drury joined Viraj Bhosale, and the pair added exactly 100 for the fourth wicket. After Bhosale became Ben Cliff’s third victim for a rapid 93 off 67 balls – 74 in boundaries – Drury added 40 with Charlie Bourne. An entertaining last wicket stand of 28 between Vinnie Ogden and Zeeshan Karamat then gave the visitors a defensible total. After the early loss of Michael Jepps, a stand of 135 between Liam Wiles and skipper Taruwar Kohli laid the foundations for Cawthorne’s win. After Kohli was fifth out at 216, Cawthorne stuttered rather, but the two Hollings, Jacob and Josh, saw them over the line with two wickets and three balls to spare. 

 

Treeton 245 (49.3) Viraj Bhosale 93, Sam Drury 65, Ben Cliffe 6-57 

Cawthorne 248-8 (49.3) Liam Wiles 80, Taruwar Kohli 93, Liam Johnson 3-62 

 

At Shaw Lane, Whitley Hall won for the second week running in the day’s lowest-scoring game. Barnsley Woolley Miners chose to bat, but were soon 27-3. Zak and Ali Jahangir then added 39 for the fourth wicket, but after that no-one really got going and the home side were all out in the last over for a disappointing 139 – Dan Waldron being the pick of the bowlers against his old club. The visitors certainly did not have it all their own way in reply, and at 48-6, the home side looked favourites. But Australian Ben Tracey then hit an unbeaten 56, and with good support from Waldron, the pair added 93 in an unbroken seventh wicket stand that saw their side home with over 124 overs to spare. 

 

Barnsley WM 139 (49.3) Zak Jahangir 31, Ali Jahangir 35, Dan Waldron 4-25 

Whitley Hall 143-6 (35.3) Ben Tracey 56*, Dan Waldron 33* 

 

Cleethorpes earned their first Premier League win since 2019 with a 31-run success after electing to bat first against Elsecar at Chichester Road. The home side were in trouble at 8-3, with two wickets falling to Joe Denby, when Tom Rollinson joined Lincolnshire wicketkeeper/batsman Tom Keast. These two added 114 for the fourth wicket to provide the backbone for a decent total. Craig Moffatt ended the partnership by dismissing Rollinson, the first of his four wickets; and Keast was eighth out to Moin Ashraf for 109 off 125 balls. Harry Costello did the early damage for the Meggies, and when Sam Shaw became his fourth victim, the visitors were 41-4. Skipper Peter Hadfield and Kasheef Naveed started to repair the damage with a fifth wicket stand of 43, but Elsecar then slipped to 102-7. Callum Higgins helped Hadfield to add 57 for the eighth wicket, but after Higgins was ninth out at 182 the visitors' challenge faded away. 

 

Cleethorpes 227 (49.2) Tom Keast 109, Tom Rollinson 60, Moin Ashraf 3-69, Craig Moffat 4-42 

Elsecar 196 (47.3) Peter Hadfield 52, Callum Higgins 32, Harry Costello 5-43, Ben Wright 3-57 

 

At Town Fields, after Doncaster Town elected to bat first against Appleby Frodingham, Joe Gallagher and James Ward came together at 60-3 and added 83 for the fourth wicket. After Gallagher became the first of Kieran Lindley’s three victims, Ward’s unbeaten 70 off 102 balls saw the hosts post a respectable 199-6. The visitors’ pursuit of their target was untroubled. Matt Fowler and Alex Grimes put on a 60-run opening stand, before Grimes added 105 with Jordan Neil, and was unbeaten on 94 off 131 balls when the winning runs were scored with seven overs to spare. 

 

Doncaster T 199-6 (50) Joe Gallagher 34, James Ward 70*, Kieran Lindley 3-55 

Appleby Frodingham 202-2 (43) Matt Fowler 35, Alex Grimes 94*, Jordan Neil 51 

 

Appleby Frodingham, Wakefield Thornes and Whitley Hall lead the way in the division with two wins from two, whilst Barnsley Woolley Miners, Doncaster Town and Elsecar await their first wins. 

 

Full scorecards