Round-up of League & Cup games played on 8 & 9 August

 

Wickersley made a spirited start against league leaders Sheffield Collegiate and were 198-5, thanks to 50s from Mayank Mishra and Abdul Qayoom, before Josh Varley got his third of his five wickets, leading to a collapse to 201 all out, which Collegiate comfortably overtook for four down with seven overs to spare, thanks to 85 from Shaaiq Choudhry and 50* from Dan Old. Cleethorpes missed an opportunity to stay in touch with Collegiate (who are now 30 points clear at the top) by losing to fellow Lincolnshire club Appleby Frodingham, who had their own concerns at the other end of the table. In a curious game in which only six players between both teams reached double figures. Appleby Frodingham made 213, largely thanks to Paras Ratnaparkhe’s 107, while Josh Knapton took 5-63. Cleethorpes lost three quick wickets in reply, before Ian Mansfield (83) and Alex Osmond (63) put on 121 for the 4th wicket, but after that it was a struggle. Nathan Balding and Paul Hilton took four wickets each and Cleethorpes fell 13 runs short on 200. Tickhill scored the day’s highest with 293-8 against Cawthorne. Harvey Wootton and Charlie Kaye both scored 60s and there were strong contributions from Ross Diver and Ronan Henderson, but it was Biswick Kapala whose 5-54 sealed the day as Cawthorne were all out for 166, despite a fantastic rearguard partnership of 73 by Naqeeb Ullah and Kabir Kohli. Whitley Hall and Wakefield Thornes swapped places mid-table after Muhammad Ashraf took 5-41 to bowl Thornes out for 127 (after being 97-2). Whitley wobbled on 18-4 but Neil Longhurst (51*) and Callum Bethel (32) saw them home by four wks. In a key relegation game, fraught with jeopardy, Sprotbrough moved two points ahead of Hallam with a calm professional performance, led by Parteek Khasa who took 4-50, as Hallam made 197, and 61* as he steered his side to win by six wickets with two overs to spare. With a fairly similar score, Doncaster prevented Whiston PC taking advantage of Hallam’s slip, bowling Whiston out for 196, despite a captain’s innings of 70 from Danny Kemp, rescuing his club from the mire of 17-4, and boosted at the end by 62 from 40 balls by Tom Bolland. Curtis Free took 4-27 in 12.5 overs. Jaden Fell then carried his bat for 88* as Doncaster strolled to 199-2 in 37. 

 

 

Jerome Bossr of Ackworth missed out on 100 for the second week running, but his 94 cemented his team’s 243-8 against Sheffield Collegiate 2nds. Michael Goodchild (73) and Greg Mann (80) led a strong reply but Collegiate couldn’t quite manage the required run rate and finished 22 short with eight down when the overs ran out. Barnsley Woolley Miners needed to win to stay in touch with Ackworth at the top of the table, but lost to third-placed Elsecar, who won the toss and posted 210 thanks to a fantastic last wicket partnership of 75 by Joe Denby (69 in 39 balls) and Musa Altaf which rescued them from 135-9. Ali Zaryab scored 81 for Barnsley but they were strangled by 26 overs from Arsalan Mir and Haider Jahangir taking 7-66 between them, snuffing out the chase at 179-9 and leaving Elsecar just 12 pts behind the second promotion place. Behind them are Aston Hall,who won a thriller of a game by one run against Rockingham. Aston batted first and posted 238-6 with 60s from Johannes Bothma and Muhammad Khan. Lasith Lakshan led the chase with 77 but when he was out at 164-5, Rockingham just kept going and Andrew Baker and Mason Bannister almost got them over the line. It was a deserved six points for a team battling to escape relegation. Adam Clarke took 5-51 for Aston Hall. Like Rockingham, fellow relegation-placed Oughtibridge put up a superb fight against Tickhill 2nds. Tickhill batted first and put up 270-5, with Nathaniel Wilkes making 102 and Peter Mawdsley 58. Oughtibridge were 44-3; game over you might think, but Zaheer Mirza put on 73 with Mack Collinson, then 126 with Daryl Williams (71) and he wasn’t out till he’d made 107 with the score 255-7, and Oughtibridge ended on 267-8 just three behind a rather ruffled Tickhill. Rockingham and Oughtibridge remain at the bottom of the table but with this spirit maybe there’ll be a few surprises to come. Batting pitch of the day must go to Stonelow where Coal Aston helped themselves to 309-5 with 96 for Regan Sheahan and 58 for Dave Rodgers, while Upper Haugh made 241-3 in reply through Aadam Hassan (79), Tommy Hyde (60*) and Connor Sanderson (72*). Perhaps with a little faster start they might have made it. Shiregreen scored 258-5 against Doncaster Town 2nds, with an unbroken partnership of 178 between Haris Khan (89*) and Imran Khan (88*) after Warren Graca had taken 3 wickets to leave them on 80-5. Despite 58 from Alfie Peirson, Doncaster struggled to find their way and ended on 183-9. 

 

 

Warmsworth moved closer to promotion in a hurry, bowling out Houghton Main for 152 in 36 overs, Limar Pierce returning 3-9 in seven overs, before knocking off the required total for four down in 33. Their partners in promotion, Wath, had a similarly comfortable result against third-placed Whitley Hall 2nds, though it owed much to Syed Shah whose 98 carried them through to 215-9 while his 3-9 finished off a disappointing innings of 85 all out. Conisbrough took advantage of Whitley’s slip to move up behind them, bowling out Wickersley 2nds for 151 (Nathan Chadburn 4-19), despite Nathan Taylor batting through for 66*. In Conisbrough’s reply, Joe Farmer (67*) played a similar anchor role as they made 152-6 with just an over to spare. Parkhead recovered from losing both openers for 0, to post 209-9 (Dilshan Sukumar 50) against Treeton, for whom Ben Birtles took four wickets and scored 45* to win the game by two wickets after a dramatic middle order collapse, Zeeshan Ahmed taking 5-50. Cawthorne 2nds beat Monk Bretton by five wickets, overhauling their 185-5 (Chris Schofield 74*) in 41 overs, thanks to a partnership of 85 by Harry Airstone (62*) and Thom Macrow (41). At the bottom of the table, West Bretton scored a promising 217 (George Naylor 55, Joseph Gott 47) only to be swept aside by Frickley Colliery who raced past them in 39 overs for five down with Jordan Bowers (81*) and Franke Mangham (48) leading the way. 

 

 

In a classic top of the table clash, Thorpe Hesley & High Green moved up to six points behind Norton Oakes after battling to 181 in 43 overs (Dan Baldwin 4-34) and then bowling out Oakes for 106, despite Adam Thorpe’s 53*, Oliver Law taking 5-35. Not far behind, Norton Woodseats also won, chasing down Wakefield Thornes 2nds’ 171 all out in which Harley Cushan made 44 and Aamir Ashfaque took 4-64, in just 26 overs. Blake Stocks led the charge but was stumped one short of his century after his partnership of 158 with James Eyre (37*) saw Woodseats to 173-2. Penistone are also thereabouts after recovering from 37-4 against Hallam 2nds with Chris Walmsley (70) and John Williams (50) steering them to 189-7 and bowling out Hallam who collapsed to 152 from 110-2 (Jamie Stone 50) largely thanks to Tom Exley who took 6-42. In a low-scoring struggle at Shaw Lane, Aston Hall 2nds bowled Barnsley Woolley Miners 2nds out for 103, despite a partnership of 62 by Rikki Sephton (41) and Lewis Wilkinson and then battled to 104-7 (William Thom 34) to move themselves out of relegation, just. Elsecar 2nds made 181-8, with Callum Johnson undefeated on 64*, against Hatfield but then couldn’t quite take enough wickets, though Salman Iqbal took 4-49, as Hatfield made 182-7 in 42. And in a tight local derby, Millhouses Works scored 111-7 (Noah Ellis 40, Nadeem Khan 4-40) to overtake Sheffield Collegiate 3rds’ 109 all out. 

 

 

Shahzad Hussain missed out on 100 for the second week running, being bowled on 97 as he and Oliver Marsh (52) helped Coal Aston 2nds to 247-7 against Upper Haugh 2nds. He then took 5-37 as Upper Haugh were bowled out for 132 in 31 overs (Gurvinder Singh top scoring with 41), keeping Coal Aston well clear at the top of the table. Darfield are battling with Frecheville for the second promotion place. They bowled out Higham for 182 with Harry Bamforth scoring 64 and Saman Khursheed taking 4-34 and knocked off the runs in 33 overs for 6 down, with Ashley Potter (68) and Brooklyn Whitmill (72) putting on 113 for the fourth wicket. Level on points Frecheville had a similar result, bowling out Oughtibridge 2nds for 161, Muhammad Ali scoring 54 at the end and Tom Duffield taking 5-69. Ashan Lakmal (57) then provided the bulk of the chase as Frecheville made 162-7 to win in 34 overs. At the other end of the table, Sheffield United acquired a much welcome 12 points as Khurram Shahzad (6-41) helped bowl out Rockingham 2nds for 145, of which Johnson Marumisa (76) scored more than half. They then raced to 146-2 to win in 27 overs, Asjad Shah (72*) and Harris Guirez (40*) sharing an unbeaten partnership of 94. Sheffield United’s result meant they overtook Sprotbrough 2nds who were comfortably defeated by Shiregreen 2nds, Sprotbrough being bowled out for 135 and Shiregreen taking just 21 overs to reach their total, for the loss of just three wickets, Mohammed Afzal getting to 50* with the winning runs. In a similar game, Worsbrough Bridge bowled out Wath 2nds for 122 and knocked off 123-5 to win in 29 overs. On Sunday, Oughtibridge 2nds had the better of the rearranged game against Upper Haugh 2nds, Jenny Beever taking 6-35 to help bowl out Upper Haugh for 112 and Herbinder Singh Lali making 54* out of the 115-2 needed to win. 

 

 

Stocksbridge maintained their lead at the top of the division in a close game with Sheffield University Staff. After a perilous start at 19-3, Rob Taylor led a powerful resurgence finishing on 206-7. Uni Staff set off with great determination, guided by Sabeethan Kanagasingham with 78. At 150-4 they were in sight of winning, but losing Kanagasingham and captain Waqas Tanveer in five balls changed everything and from then on Rob Taylor (4-66) and Joe Hibbert (3-46) were able to close things down, leaving Uni Staff on 190-9. Whiston Forge beat Ackworth 2nds to stay 2nd. A powerful 246-9 led by Harrison (53) and Owen Struggles (46*) meant Ackworth needed to respond in kind which they did, through Keelan Booth (46) and Alex Clemo (73) but wickets kept falling, especially to Mark Traquair (5-38 in 12) and Ackworth ran out of road on 203. Kexborough aren’t far behind and bowled out Pledwick for 115 to show why. Once James Eastlake (46) and his opening partner, Jake Marshall had gone, only Ben Purdy (27) was able to show any resistance. Matty Bowering had superb figures of 7-35 and, when Kexborough batted, Jack Firth (41) and Bavasuthan Selvanayagam (32) led them to 118-4 in 27 overs. Thorncliffe & Wentworth are in the same leading bunch, just two points behind Kexborough, and they won their game in the same vein. Bradfield were blown away for 101 in 32 overs, Michael Gilmour taking 4-41, and Connor Brunt (70*) and Liam Page (23*) did the rest, winning by 9 wickets. The gap between top and bottom of Div 4 is huge. The two bottom clubs, Barnsley Woolley Miners 3rds and Doncaster Town 3rds did well just to be playing each other and had a good contest. Barnsley batted first and were doing well at 148-5 – Harveer Batth (44) and Steven Dixon (40) had just put on 83 – when both were out within four balls of each other and then Joe Horrocks, who had bowled Batth with the last ball of his third over, proceeded to get three more wickets with the first three balls of his next over and, as Dixon had departed in between, Barnsley suddenly were all out for 152 and Horrocks had 4-12 but more significantly four in four. What an achievement!! Doncaster went in, perhaps still shell-shocked, and lost three of their first 4 batters (one of which was Horrocks) with one run between them. However, Luke Goodwin was having none of this nonsense and, with young Aryan Paladugu, pulled them out of the mire and continued, carrying his bat for 73* until Doncaster had 156-6 in 29 overs and had won the game. 

 

 

Wombwell beat Hallam 3rds quite comfortably in the end to retain their clear lead at the top of the division, but there were moments – when they were 61-4 or 158-7 or Hallam were 141-8 with Suvam Sikarwar on 55 when the game could have gone a different way. Jonathan Scaife (77) held their innings together from 18-2 all the way to 189-8 - they got only two more without him – and their bowlers, especially Nathan Hitchen at the beginning, who reduced Hallam to 16-5 and Mark Mustill-Hope who snuffed out the hope of a fairytale recovery, with three wickets each, were the match winners. Waverley are steaming along just behind them but there too there were moments when they looked vulnerable. 162-6, with more than a dozen overs to go, should have led to more than 172, but maybe when you have Lijo Jose in your side, who can take 8-25 in ten overs and all clean bowled, who needs extra overs?! Silkstone were Josed out for 109, with great credit to Antony Clarke who made 39 and was one of only two whom Jose didn’t bowl. Penistone and Hatfield Town come next and have identical records and points totals – but that was after Saturday. Hatfield were in front at the start of the day but Penistone won the toss and batted. Paul Rooke (55) and James Sen (68) put on 132 for the 2nd wicket and Penistone amassed 229-7 in their 46 overs. Hatfield had Gareth Stent who made 79 who took them to 172 but few could stay with him against Matt Scholey who took 5-40 and Sam Lee who took 3-18 at the end and Hatfield were all out for 183. 15-yr old Zach Pryce-Williams scored 103* for Sheffield Collegiate 4ths out of 203-2, making it a memorable day, but not enough to stop Millhouses Works 2nds claiming an important win as they try to escape relegation. Jack Roper (51) and John Woods (56*) took it in turns to shepherd their team to 206-7 with an over to spare. After John Ashton (56) had given Thorpe Hesley & High Green 2nds a strong start, Simon White took 4-14 in 6 overs for Barnby Dun in a remarkable spell that reduced Thorpe Hesley from 113-3 to 127-7 but after, as captain, he took himself off, Alex Sunderland 36* and the tail moved the score on to 188-9 and that proved too much for the bottom club who were all out for 133 with Rob Horne taking 4-33. Maltby MW suffered an even worse collapse with five successive ducks as they fell from 53-2 to 73 all out in 19 overs, thanks to Umair Alam (5-23) and Harry Iball who took 3-5 in 9 balls. Warmsworth 2nds lost two quick wickets too but then George Horne and Kevin Defty put on 50 together to win the game for 3 down in a more careful 29 overs. 

 

 

Sheffield Centralians continued their 100% record, winning their 17th game of the season, against Sheffield United 2nds. Muhammad Irfan took 4-30 to help bowl out United for 154 in 36 overs. Gulfraz Khan (58) and Adeeb Khan (68) then knocked off the runs for three down in 19. Parkhead 2nds continued their push for the second promotion place with a powerful win over Caribbean, though Caribbean gave a batting performance that belied their mid-table place. No-one scored 50 but seven batters made 20 or more and the team set a very challenging target of 229-8 in 40 overs. It wasn’t challenging to Parkhead however. Their first three batters, Nathaniel Sloane, Rohan Ardley and Nazam Mohammed all made 50s and the total was passed for 3 down in just 31 overs. Green Moor still have a distant hope of catching them. They made 287-8 against Whiston PC 2nds with a hundred for Scott Jones and several other strong supporting roles. One of these was James Christopherson (33), with whom Jones put on 122 for the first wicket and it was largely Christopherson (5-7 from 5) who hauled in Whiston after they had reached 108-4 of which Braiden Stokes made 39. Christopherson then took five of the last six wickets leaving Whiston 132 all out. Fourth-placed Fishlake lost ground with a very disappointing performance against Conisbrough 2nds. Conisbrough made 198 largely thanks to Oliver Cheesewright who made 68, including a partnership of 58 with Toby Humphries and another of 59 with Tom Humphries. Fishlake’s reply never really got going. They were 27-4, 78-7 and 92 all out, despite stout work from Charlie Metcalfe (37*) who unfortunately couldn’t bat at both ends. For Conisbrough, Toby Humphries held 4 outfield catches and Charlie Tippett took 4-14 in five. Handsworth comprehensively defeated bottom team Whitley Hall 3rds. Waheed Bhatti made 57 and Razvan Hussain 76* as Handsworth whipped up 231-6 in 40. Whitley Hall didn’t. Only Josh Dobson and Alistair Riddle made double figures as they scraped to 69 all out, with Nadeen Akhtar taking 5-19 in seven overs – but it wasn’t the worst. Wadsworth sadly made the day’s lowest score, in fact it will be many days before you see a lower score. They are several places above Scholes & Harley in the table, so it’s not as though they were mismatched, but Scholes scored 211-8. Michael Dearden made 71 in 63 balls and had to retire or Wadsworth’s defeat might have been even heavier. Peter Dearden made 41 and James Proudley took 4-33 but Wadsworth did not bat proudly. They were 24 all out in 14 overs. Jake Panting took 6-12, Jamie Oliver cooked up 4-11. Travis Grierson took a couple of catches and Sam Lowery one, behind the stumps. No-one else was involved. Enough said. 

 

 

Stocksbridge 2nds have a firm hold on the division’s promotion place, 24 points above their nearest rivals despite a weekend off. Higham 2nds are still in with an outside chance in second place. Alex Jervis took 4-41 when they bowled Darfield 2nds out for 181, despite 67 from Johnny Spurr at the top of the order; then Anthony White (47) and Steven Vickers (54*) led them to a five-wicket win. The other team still in with a chance are Wombwell Main 2nds, for whom Connor Turford took 4-43 when they restricted Doncaster Town 4ths to 151-9; then opener Brad Gerstmar (41) set them on their way to a five-wicket win. Elsewhere, Guilagha Sadiq took 5-23 when Houghton Main 2nds held Adwick-le-Street to 169-8 and beat them by three wickets, and Mexborough Athletic beat Bradfield 2nds by eight wickets. 

 

 

Muhammad Aftab took 5-27 when Allama Iqbal bowled runaway leaders Sheffield Medics out for 130, which would have been worse without opener Adeel Rauf’s unbeaten 49; Sajjad Ali then made an unbeaten 64 in Iqbal’s eight-wicket win. Coal Aston 3rds kept their faint promotion chances alive when they restricted Sheffield Centralians to 158-8 and skipper John Harrison made an unbeaten 40 in their two-wicket win with three balls left. Four wickets each for Tharindu Perera and Jasneet Gulati helped Brookhouse bowl The Chronicles England out for 140, but that was more than enough, and Brookhouse were all out for 69 in reply. Pavan Gannerla hit 90 in 49 balls when Sheffield Superkings were dismissed for 177 in 29 overs by Wickersley Old Village 3rds, Joe Yellott taking 4-21; Yellott completed a top all-round performance with an unbeaten 76 at the top of the order to propel his side to a seven-wicket win with six overs left. There was a thriller at Matthews Lane where Sheffield Transport gained a one-wicket win over Norton Woodseats 2nds, Myles Turner the match-winner with 4-33 and 75 not out. 

 

 

Eden Grove Parklands strengthened their grip on a promotion place when, after a dodgy start, Ithikash Arun (119 off 67) led to an imposing 314 all out, and they then bowled Sprotbrough 3rds out for 53 in reply. Frickley Colliery 2nds are still strong favourites for the second place despite a defeat to their closest rivals, West Bretton 2nds. Owen Mitchell (83) and Jackson Tate (105) put on 192 for their first wicket in their 255-3 at home to West Bretton, but John Hubery (91) and skipper David Hoyle (123* off 108) replied with 203 for the visitors’ fourth wicket, and they completed a six-wicket win with a ball to spare. Elsewhere, Monk Bretton 2nds beat Pledwick 2nds by two wickets. 

 

 

Unbeaten leaders Waverley 2nds now lead the division by 44 points after picking up 12 points from a game conceded by Sheffield Collegiate 5ths. Elsecar 3rds missed the chance to narrow the gap to the leaders when Majad Hussain and Amaad Mohammad took four wickets each when Handsworth 2nds bowled them out for 121 on their way to a four-wicket win. Sheffield Spartans were 98-9 until skipper Sohail (40*) and Shoaib (31) Nawaz added 74 for the ninth wicket to lift them to 172 all out; Usman Iqbal (6-36) and Shabir Ali (4-15) shared the wickets when Sheffield Transport 2nds fell just seven short on 164 all out in reply. Jacob Grub took 5-27 when Thorncliffe & Wentworth 2nds bowled Norton Oakes 2nds out for 122 and they then survived a collapse from 114-5 to record a one-wicket win. Akeel Yaris took 4-17 for De la Salle when they bowled Hallam 5ths out for 63 in reply to their 185 all out at Birkdale School. 

 

 

Sheffield University Staff 2nds probably have the first promotion spot nailed down, with a 30-point lead over second-placed Kexborough 2nds. They bowled Silkstone United 2nds out for 97 and beat them by ten wickets – skipper Ciaran Hanvey making an unbeaten 58. Kexborough held off the challenged of third-placed Dearne, after making 166-9;f Forties from Fred Baker and Luke Rankin put Dearne in a good position at 128-4 in reply but Thomas Green’s 6-39 proved decisive, and Dearne fell 13 short. Fishlake 2nds are still very much in the hunt four points behind Dearne. They bowled Higham 3rds out for 96 and edged to a four-wicket win. Elsewhere, Eden Madras Parklands 2nds beat Wath 3rds by 108 runs and Sprotbrough 4ths conceded to Mexborough Athletic 2nds. 

 

 

Whiston Forge 2nds lead the division by 30 points after beating Sheffield University Staff 3rds by 28 runs at Guilthwaite Hill. Urvesh Ghelani took 4-32 for second-placed Frecheville Community 2nds when they restricted Richmond to 125-9; then Kevan Cowley (51*) and Aadil Hassan (66*) knocked off the runs without loss. Jacob Harrison Green’s 71 was the foundation for Tickhill 3rds’ 206 all out against De la Salle 2nds, who were all out for 148 in reply, and Tickhill, remain third, just two points behind Frecheville. Coal Aston 4ths lost ground on the top three when their 192-6 was overhauled by Hallam 6ths, thanks to forties from Hassan Ahmed and Sean White. Elsewhere, Oughtibridge 3rds bowled Scholes & Harley 2nds out for 152, then Ashley Statham (63) guided them to an eight-wicket win. 

 

 

Ackworth powered into the quarter-finals of the ECB Club Vitality T20 Plate when Daniel Malyan-Walker (50 off 20 balls) and Jerome Bossr (70* off 40) set them on their way to a three-wicket win over Farnsfield of the Bassetlaw League. Less fortunate were Cleethorpes, who failed by one run to chase down the 137-6 set by Rastrick of the Huddersfield League in the Group 1 Area semi-final of the ECB Vitality Club T20. In the Whitworth Cup, Barnsley Woolley Miners reached this Sunday’s final against Shiregreen when they beat Doncaster Town 2nds by seven wickets, with Harrison Hayes taking 5-38 when they bowled Town out for 120, before forties from Ali Zaryab and Harvey Round saw Barnsley through. 

 

In the semi-finals of the President’s Trophy, Sheffield Centralians beat Stocksbridge by six wickets, with Ikrar Khan taking 4-17 and making an unbeaten 52 at the top of the order. In the other semi, Sheffield Caribbean beat Waverley by three wickets, Mobshar Raja taking 5-17 to help bowl Waverley out for 152. The final is at Whitley Hall on 30 August.