Premier Division round-up for 23 July

Reigning champions Appleby Frodingham strengthened their position at the top of the table by beating Whitley Hall at Brumby Hall for their 12th win of the season. Having been asked to bat first, Matt Cartwright and William Turner put on 37 for first wicket for the visitors, but that was to prove to be their best partnership of the day. After both fell to Matthew Harris, there were then two wickets apiece for Jack Forrester and Kieran Lindley as Whitley struggled to 134-6. Stand-in skipper James Brown hit a defiant unbeaten 29, but three wickets for Jordan Neil restricted the visitors to 194-9. The Steelmen had a poor start to their reply, losing Jordan Cook and Jordan Neil with just one run on the board, but Kieran Lindley helped Alex Grimes to repair the damage, and although Lindley departed at 42, Jack Harrison added 103 for the fourth wicket with Grimes, before Matt Morland came to the crease and helped Grimes get their side home with an unbroken half-century stand. 

 

Whitley Hall 194-9 (50) Neil Longhurst 54, Jordan Neil 3-41 

Appleby Frodingham 196-4 (44) Alex Grimes 88*, Jack Harrison 41 

 

Tickhill lost ground on the leaders after losing to Barnsley Woolley Miners at Alderson Drive. After electing to bat first, they lost early two wickets to Matty Clegg and a third to Ollie Jackson to leave them on 5-3. Jackson then dismissed Jim Morgan at 32, before Connor Fisher joined Koekemoer and helped him add 48 for the fifth wicket. But from 80-4, the last six wickets fell for just 40 runs, three each to Jackson and Ali Jahangir. The visitors did not find run-scoring much easier, but after Jake Weatherald had fallen to the first ball of the innings, twenties from Beck Frostick, Sheryaar Ali and Jon Trower put the Griffins on the road to victory, which they achieved with 17 overs and four wickets to spare. Tickhill now trail Appleby Frodingham by 18 points at the top, whilst Barnsley move up to joint-fourth. 

 

Tickhill 120 (33.2) Tian Koekemoer 38, Connor Fisher 30, Ollie Jackson 5-37, Ali Jahangir 3-24 

Barnsley WM 123-6 (32.3) Adi Sreedharan 4-46 

 

Wakefield Thornes’ receding chances of becoming league champions suffered another blow when they lost to Treeton at Washfield Road. The old warhorse Steve Foster led his side to a very competitive 244 after being put in to bat by the visitors. He shared in half-century partnerships with Dave Rodgers and Viraj Bhosale, but from 156-2 the home side subsided to 195-7, as Joshua Hen-Boisen took four wickets for Thornes. Vinnie Ogden, with an unbeaten 32 off 25 balls, then ensured that the top order’s efforts were not in vain. The visitors found it difficult to get going against Treeton’s varied attack until youngster Jawad Akhtar came to the crease at 97-5 and batted with patience and responsibility for his 42. But Thornes were well behind the run rate required, despite the efforts of Imran Mahboob, who hit an unbeaten 37 off 16 balls, before running out of partners in the last over. It was a crucial win for Treeton, who are one of four clubs apparated by four points battling to keep clear of the second relegation place. 

 

Treeton 244 (50) Steve Foster 63, Viraj Bhosale 31, Joshua Hen-Boisen 4-75, Jawad Akhtar 3-42 

Wakefield T 217 (49.3) Jawad Akhtar 42, Imran Mahboob 37*, Zeeshan Karamat 3-60 

 

Sheffield Collegiates’ chances of winning their first Premier League title since 2001 appear to have evaporated after their seventh defeat of the season, at home to relegation-threatened Cawthorne. Collegiate opted to bat first, and George Bartlett and Michael Goodchild added 65 for the second wicket to put them in a decent position to post a big score. But they did not really manage to kick on, and it was not until Dan Priestley and Josh Varley came together at 148-6 that they started to get on top of the visitors’ attack. Facing a target of 231, Cawthorne lost Michael Jepps with only two runs on the board, but thirties from skipper Liam Wiles, Taruwar Kohli and Kade Fletcher took them to 116-3. Archie Greaves then pushed up the scoring rate with 43 off 37 balls, but after he fell to Varley at 185 and Jake Holling became Tate Miller’s third victim, it was 205-8 and anyone’s game. Aqib Nawaz then took the game by the neck for Cawthorne, and his unbeaten 23 off nine balls saw the visitors to a priceless win with two wickets and 15 balls to spare. They remain second bottom, but are only four points from eighth place and safety. 

 

Sheffield Coll 230-7 (50) George Bartlett 39, Dan Priestley 47, Josh Varley 35 

Cawthorne 234-8 (47.3) Liam Wiles 32, Taruwar Kohli 38, Kade Fletcher 37, Archie Greaves 43, Tate Miller 3-54 

 

Visitors Elsecar win the toss at Town Fields and asked Doncaster Town to bat first. But after Bilal Anjam ran out Jaden Fell without a run on the board, Umar Amin came in to dominate the innings with a brilliant unbeaten 124 off 130 balls. He shared half-century stands with Andrew Parkin-Coates, James Ward, Charlie Kaye and finally, James Keast, who hit an unbeaten 43 off 21 balls, as the home side piled on the runs in the last few overs. Facing a testing 258 to win, the visitors needed a decent start, and after losing Kieran Higgins without a run scored, Callum Higgins and Bilal Anjam added 65 for the second wicket before Higgins became the first of James Keast’s four victims. The innings then wobbled to 98-6, before young William Chapman showed real application with an unbeaten 35 – but it was too little, too late, and he ran out of partners with Elsecar well short of their target. Doncaster are level with Barnsley and Whitley in joint-fifth place, whilst defeat for Elsecar leaves them as one of the four clubs separated by four points, battling to keep out of the second relegation spot. 

 

Doncaster T 257-6 (50) Umar Amin 124*, Charlie Kaye 36, James Keast 43* 

Elsecar 174 (39.3) Bilal Anjam 45, William Chapman 35*, James Keast 4-56 

 

There was an amazing finish at Church Fields, where Whiston Parish Church needed 16 off the last three balls to beat Cleethorpes, and Lewis Pike struck all three for six. Earlier, everything had gone well for Cleethorpes when, having elected to bat first, Tom Keast and Bill Kirby put on 153 for the first wicket, before Keast was joined by Tom Rollinson, who hit 56 from 41 balls as the pair added a further 67 for the second. Keast ended unbeaten on 138 off 148 balls, as the visitors posted a daunting 305-2. After losing skipper Gareth Davis at 13, Andrew Tomlinson and Danny Kemp added 95 for the home side, but it was an aggressive fourth-wicket stand of 139 between Kemp and Aamir Jamal that put Whiston in with a chance of a remarkable win. After Jamal departed for 71 off 42 balls and Kemp 22 runs later, the stage was set for Pike’s last over heroics. The win still leaves Whiston 34 points from safety with seven games left, but Cleethorpes’ defeat means that they are still very much in the relegation dogfight. 

 

Cleethorpes 305-2 (50) Tom Keast 138*, Bill Kirby 42, Tom Rollinson 56 

Whiston PC 308-6 (50) Andrew Tomlinson 52, Danny Kemp 119, Aamir Jamal 71, Lewis Pike 40*, Matthew Owen 3-96