Premier Division round-up for 28 May

Appleby Frodingham’s 46-run win over Elsecar returned them to the top of the Premier Division. Having elected to bat first at Brumby Hall, the home side were made to work for their runs, and a patient 66-run second-wicket stand between Alex Grimes and Jordan Neil gave them a solid base to work on. Three wickets for Jack Shutt reduced the Steelmen to 136-4, before Jordan Cook, with an unbeaten 41 in 34 balls, gave them something to bowl at. At 28-5 in reply, Elsecar were effectively out of the contest, until a seventh-wicket stand of 61 between Shutt and Joe Denby raised their hopes. But at 119-6, Paul Hilton removed Denby and the last four wickets fell for 19 runs to give the home side a comfortable win. 

 

Appleby Frodingham 181-4 (50) Alex Grimes 60, Kieran Lindley 30, Jordan Cook 41*, Jack Shutt 3-42 

Elsecar 135 (46.3) Jack Shutt 33, Joe Denby 41, Jordan Neil 4-9, Kieran Lindley 3-32 

 

After their surprise defeat to Whiston last week, Tickhill resumed their fine start to the season with a convincing win over Sheffield Collegiate at Abbeydale. After deciding to bat first, Collegiate had to work hard to reach 61-1, before Adi Sreedharan claimed the prized wickets of Luke Shutt and Shaaiq Choudhry. The experienced Ed McKenna then saw Collegiate to 111-3, before being stumped off Alex Rowland, who claimed a second wicket two balls later. After Sreedharan had returned to claim three more scalps, and Jamie Carrington had fallen to leading wicket-taker Tian Koekemoer, six wickets had fallen for 36 runs, but the last pair then added 28 to give the scoreboard a more respectable look. James Stuart, playing an uncharacteristically patient innings, and Ross Diver (57 off 55 balls), got the visitors off to a great start with a stand of 105 for the first wicket, before Diver fell to Choudhry. Stuart and Dane Schadendorf took Tickhill to 144-1 and although three wickets fell for seven runs, two of them to Henry Eldred, it was too little too late, and Koekemoer and Jordan Lowe saw their side home with overs and wickets to spare. Tickhill join Wakefield Thornes in joint second place, whilst Collegiate slip to sixth. 

 

Sheffield Collegiate 175-9 (50) Luke Shutt 33, Adi Sreedharan 5-33 

Tickhill 176-4 (34.5) James Stuart 48, Ross Diver 57, Dane Schadendorf 31 

 

A second successive defeat for erstwhile leaders Wakefield Thornes sees them drop to join Tickhill in second place. After the home side had elected to bat first against Cleethorpes, Joe Billings, with a magnificent third hundred of the season (an unbeaten 142 in 130 balls) saw his side to an imposing score. Billings shared a third wicket stand of 103 with James Rhodes, and dominated an entertaining unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 58 with Matty Taylor. But Tom Keast (132 in 116 balls) and Bill Kirby put on 191 for Cleethorpes first wicket in commanding style, to give the visitors the platform for an impressive win. Despite a flutter when they lost four more wickets after the openers had fallen to Matt Varley, the Meggies got home with four wickets and five balls to spare. The win moves them up one place to fifth in the table. 

 

Wakefield Thornes 288-5 (50) Joe Billings 142*, James Rhodes 41 

Cleethorpes 289-6 (49.1) Tom Keast 132, Bill Kirby 80, Matt Varley 4-60 

 

Whitley Hall are still well up with the leaders in fourth place after their fifth win of the season, this time at the expense of Treeton. The home side opted to bat first at Baxter Field, and the old campaigners James Moorhouse and Neil Longhurst were soon compiling another hundred partnership together. After they had added 113 for the second wicket, Greg Norton dismissed them both, and Danial Rafiq, to leave Whitley on 151-4. But Tim Smith and James Brown then added 79 to ensure that the good start was not wasted, and left their side with a very competitive score. An opening burst of two wickets each from Dan Waldron and Biswick Kapala had the visitors in real trouble at 23-4, compounded when Rafiq ran out Norton at 46 and Ben Birtles was caught behind off Brown for 22, after trying to hit his way out of trouble, and Treeton were 77-6. But whilst the wickets fell at the other end, Viraj Bhosale remained solid throughout, and he found a partner, Charlie Bourne, with whom he added 123 for the seventh wicket to haul the visitors back into the game. But after Waldron dismissed them both, Kapala mopped up the last two, and Whitley were home by 35 runs. 

 

Whitley Hall 259-6 (50) James Moorhouse 69, Neil Longhurst 46, Tim Smith 58*, James Brown 35, Greg Norton 3-30 

Treeton 224 (47.4) Viraj Bhosale 100, Charlie Bourne 53, Dan Waldron 4-54, Biswick Kapala 4-48 

 

The tightest game of the day came at Town Fields, where Doncaster Town returned to winning ways after last week’s defeat at Abbeydale. Skipper James Ward decided to ask visitors Cawthorne to bat first, and was frustrated by his opposite number Taruwar Kohli, who came in at 23-1 and hit 101 off 106 balls, whilst five wickets fell at the other end. When Kohli departed, the second of Umar Amin’s four victims, the visitors were 195-6. Facing the ultimate target of 224, the home side needed a decent start, and they overcame the early loss of James Dobson with a second-wicket stand of 104 between Jaden Fell and Umar Amin. After that, wickets fell regularly, and when the home side were 191-8, the game could have gone either way. But James Keast and Sonny Day-Tennant added 36 in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand to see their side home with two wickets and five balls to spare. 

 

Cawthorne 223-8 (50) Taruwar Kohli 101, Umar Amin 4-61 

Doncaster T 227-8 (49.1) Jaden Fell 71, Umar Amin 83, Joe Gallagher 39, Nick Owen 3-35 

 

In the battle between the two sides at the wrong end of the table, visitors Whiston Parish Church elected to bat first against Barnsley Woolley Miners at Shaw Lane. The early batsmen toiled for runs, but the arrival of Aamir Jamal at 77-3 gave the innings much-needed impetus, and when he was out, 98 runs later at 175-6, he had hit 69 off 48 balls and shared in a 52-run fourth wicket stand with Harry Paver. The lower order squeezed the visitors past the 200 mark, whilst for the home side, the spin pair of Ollie Jackson and Ali Jahangir shared six wickets. Jake Weatherald dominated the early part of the Barnsley innings to the extent that when he was third out at 131, having scored 84 off just 46 balls, the home side needed 75 and had over thirty overs to score them. Ali Jahangir and Leo Johnson (35 not out off 28) then put on 70 in an unbroken sixth-wicket stand to see their side home with six wickets and almost 20 overs to spare. Barnsley jump two places to ninth as a result of their win. 

 

Whiston PC 205-9 (50) Andrew Tomlinson 32, Harry Paver 37, Aamir Jamal 69, Oliver Jackson 3-59, Ali Jahangir 3-47 

Barnsley WM 209.4 (30.4) Jake Weatherald 84, Ali Jahangir 39*, Leo Johnson 32* 

 

Full scorecards