Senior Section round-up 14 August - Part II

 

 

Norton Oakes 2nds gained a highly important victory against bottom side Bradfield Village Fellowship 2nds, that maintained their chance of moving into the top six and avoiding relegation. The home side were asked to bat first and amassed an impressive 190-6. Openers Tim Taylor and Paul Garnett both made it past 50 in a 113-run opening partnership to get the innings off to a flier, but after such a solid platform had been laid, Bradfield will have been disappointed that they didn’t kick on a little more, with three out of the six batsmen out recording ducks. It proved costly, as Norton Oakes went on to chase the target some ease. Ben Gaskell was there at the end with an unbeaten 43, but there was no real standout batsman in a collective effort that got the visitors over the line in just 35.5 overs. 

 

Bradfield VF 2 190-6 (46) Tim Taylor 53, Paul Garnett 75, David Fearnley 33, Nelson Stephen 3-42 

Norton Oakes 2 194-5 (35.5) Thomas Tower 36, Ben Gaskell 43*, Josh Thompson 32 

 

 

Handsworth top the tree in Division 5 as they made light work of what looked like a much tougher fixture at home to third-placed Whiston Forge. After electing to bat, the away side would have hoped for an imposing total to keep themselves in the mix at the top of an ever-changing league, but they were dominated by an excellent bowling display. All five Handsworth bowlers entered the wickets column, with Nadeem Akhtar’s 4-28 being the pick of them all, and they bowled their visitors out for just 115. The chase looked, on paper, a fairly straightforward one, but Khalid Rehman’s excellent innings of 83 from just 71 balls made it look easy. 

 

Whiston F 115 (40.4) Nadeem Akhtar 4-28, Sojail Hussain 3-16 

Handsworth JSC 118-1 (20) Khalid Rehman 83* 

 

 

Penistone 2nds kept up their hopes of remaining in Division 5 with a close-run victory at home to Conisbrough 2nds. After choosing to bat first, the hosts’ total was slightly underwhelming. No batsman passed fifty, but several double-figure scores got them to a total that turned out to be a match-winning one. Plaudits went to Conisbrough's Liam Stainthorpe, as his 5-40 shone out in their bowling attack and were his best figures of the season. The away side’s confidence will have been high as they began their innings in reply, but regular wickets saw them fall to 86-7. Stainthorpe did his best to help them recover in an excellent individual display, scoring 41 (34), after Stuart Coleman’s more sedate 40 (78), but those efforts were in vain as Conisbrough fell just short. 

 

Penistone 2 168-9 (46) Marcus Hoyland 31, Toby Humphries 3-48, Liam Stainthorpe 5-40 

Conisbrough 2 154 (44) Stuart Coleman 40, Liam Stainthorpe 41, Marcus Hoyland 4-33, Harry Burton 3-32, David Harrison 3-32 

 

 

Rotherham Town 2nds beat Coal Aston 2nds by a single wicket on their home ground to stay in the promotion places. The visitors batted first and struggled to produce a big innings, instead relying on several double-figure scores to get them up to a well below par 135 all out. Shadab Ahmed was the pick of six Town bowlers, picking up 4-15, his best effort this season. Town’s batting performed in a similar fashion to their visitors as no batsmen got near fifty and regular wickets fell. Luke Park dominated the home side's top order on his way to 5-39, setting up a very nervy finish as Town fell to 115-9. Then Cameron Mclean and Junaid Khaliq at ten and eleven got them over the line in a tense finish, both scoring 11 not out off 22 balls with two boundaries each. 

 

Coal Aston 2 135 (41.5) Shadab Ahmed 4-15 

Rotherham T 2 139-9 (45.4) Luke Park 5-39 

 

 

Thorpe Hesley & High Green 2nds had a welcome return to form as they beat Kilnhurst Colliery with a resounding performance on their home ground. The home side won the toss and chose to bat, scoring an excellent 207-9, having been 95-7. Harry Taylor and Callum Gray produced crucial innings at eight and nine after only Muhammed Kousar had made any sort of score in the top order. After these heroics, the home side’s bowlers carried on the momentum, bowling Kilnhurst out for just 116. All five of their bowlers took wickets, with Andrew Barlow spearheading their efforts, picking up 3-25. 

 

Thorpe Hesley & High Green 2 207-9 (46) Muhammad Kusar 33, Harry Taylor 48*, Callum Gray 33, Stephen Butler 3-35 

Kilnhurst C 116 (32.5) Andrew Barlow 3-25 

 

 

Darfield 2nds picked up an important win away at Upper Haugh 2nds in the battle or the final few places in the all-important top six. The home side decided to bat first, but were bowled out for just 121 after an excellent all-round bowling display from the visitors. It was a score that could have been much worse for Upper Haugh though, as they fell to a bleak 69-9, but Zaf Rashid and Adam Perry at number eleven effected something of a recovery. The away side started in a similarly bad fashion, falling to 41-3, but Sulaimaan Ahmed’s unbeaten 45 (48) stopped the rot and carried his side to victory. 

 

Upper Haugh 2 121 (41.4) Adam Perry 33*, Ashley Potter 3-34 

Darfield 2 123-5 (23) Sulaimaan Ahmed 45, Andy Judge 3-29 

 

 

 

Millhouses’ decision to bat first at Brookhouse backfired spectacularly as Thomas Green and William Braithwaite took the first eight wickets between them to reduce the visitors to 28-8. No visiting batsman reached double figures in an all-out total of 40. The home team took just 12.3 overs to knock off the runs, with Saida Reddy Muttana hitting an unbeaten 27. The win boosts Brookhouses’ survival hopes, but Millhouses are now looking doomed. 

 

Millhouses W 2 40 (25.2) Thomas Green 5-11, William Braithwaite 3-13 

Brookhouse 42-1 (12.3) 

 

 

Seasoned all-rounder Richard Wilkinson proved the difference between the two top teams at Finningley, as he followed up his fine unbeaten 83, which was the backbone of his side’s innings, with a ten-over spell of 3-24. After Iain Wormald had taken the first two Wombwell wickets with no runs on the board, Wilkinson shared in a third-wicket stand of 59 with Thomas Goldsby-West (18) and a 51-run fifth-wicket stand with Adam Wallace. Joe Woodiwiss carried his bat for 46 in Doncaster’s reply, but he received little support from the other end; whilst for the visitors, Wilkinson had good support from Joe Armitage (2-22) and the home side fell well short of their target. 

 

Wombwell M 149-6 (40) Richard Wilkinson 83* 

Doncaster T 3 106-7 (40) Joe Woodiwiss 46*, Richard Wilkinson 3-24 

 

 

Another disappointing loss for bottom club Wentworth, who were all out for 108. Captain Peter Smith provided the only real resistance against a fine opening spell by Hasan Yasin, whilst Mohammed Shabaz ripped the heart out of the middle order. The home side replied positively, and reached their target in 16 overs. Faizan Nawaz and Faiz Hussain (21) got them off to a fine start, and Subhaan Hussain and Zayn Wasim completed the job with ease. Wentworth are all but relegated, whilst Sheffield United, two places from safety, live to fight another day. 

 

Wentworth 108 (38.4) Hasan Yasin 3-20, Mohammed Shabaz 3-28 

Sheffield U 110-3 (16) Faizan Nawaz 33 

 

 

In a low-scoring game, fourth-placed Handsworth 2nds defended a modest 111 to beat relegation-threatened Wickersley 3rds by 37 runs. After electing to bat first, the visitors, with only eight men, were indebted to captain Moniruzzaman Choudhury and Ansab Rizwan for the bulk of their total; whilst Kamran Khayer was the pick of th home side’s attack. With just three men reaching double figures, Wickersley never really threatened against the Handsworth opening attack of Riswan and Moneeb Ahmed. Only an unbeaten 20 from last man Kevin Roe gave his side an element of respectability. 

 

Handsworth JSC 2 111 (25) Moniruzzaman Choudhury 39, Ansab Rizwan 41 , Kamran Khayer 3-21 

Wickersley OV 3 74 (18.2) Moneeb Ahmed 4-312 

 

 

Dearne v Doncaster Town 4ths (cancelled due to Covid – match null & void) 

 

 

Frecheville 2nds kept up their hopes of promotion as they beat strugglers Scholes to stay in third place. The home side’s decision to bowl first was a good one, as they bowled out their visitors for 136, which could have been much less after they reduced them to 57-4. David Watson’s quick-fire 47 (21) lifted Scholes above 100, but they still fell well short of a competitive total against a very good side. Frecheville will have been a little nervy in reply when they were 78-5, but Aadil Hassan steadied the ship with a fluent unbeaten 42 off 46 balls, as he took the hosts to the win. 

 

Scholes 136 (29.2) David Watson 47, Adam Gibson 3-26 

Frecheville C 2 139-5 (45.4) Matthew Remner 34, Aadil Hassan 42* 

 

 

Harley’s comprehensive win at home to Silkstone United 2nds left them still with an outside chance of promotion, and they remain in fourth. After being put into bat, United only lost five wickets in their innings, but slow scoring saw them to an under-par 138. Robert Hill was their shining light, top scoring with an unbeaten 52. Harley’s run chase was very serene as they chased down the target without the loss of a single wicket. Sam Lowery was the aggressor, scoring a brilliant unbeaten 83. 

 

Silkstone U 2 138-5 (40) Robert Hill 52* 

Harley 141-0 (25) Peter Dearden 36*, Sam Lowery 83* 

 

 

Houghton Main 2nds’ brilliant chase at home to Higham 2nds put them in with an outside chance of staying in the division. But after their visitors had elected to bat and scored 208 in the first innings, the victory seemed unlikely. Both Michael Dixon and Ian Gray did the job with the bat for Higham to leave their team in what seemed to be a commanding position. But their hosts had other ideas in a fighting display which had them looking upwards in the table. 62 (92) from Adam Cutmore at the top of the order, and a collection of cameos from Naseem Shahid, Wahab Khan and Matt Thornton, saw them within touching distance of the win before Bilal Hussain and Mohammed Asgher finished off the job. 

 

Higham 2 208-7 (40) Michael Dixon 66, Ian Gray 66*, Bilal Hussain 3-43 

Houghton M 2 212-6 (37.1) Adam Cutmore 62, Wahab Khan 31, Matt Thornton 31, Luke Woodhouse 3-40 

 

 

Sprotbrough 3rds kept their commanding position at the top of the division with a low-scoring win at home to eleventh-placed Worsbrough Bridge 2nds. The hosts elected to bowl first, and backed up that decision by limiting their struggling visitors to 113-7 in their 40 overs. 26 from Phil Smith and 29* from Darren Newton were the only scores of note for the away side in a disappointing showing. The game, however, had a few more twists, as Sprotbrough made it to their target with just three wickets remaining. None of their batsmen took real control of the situation and they fumbled their way to the win, with extras being their third top-scorer. Any win is a win, however, and the league leaders will have been delighted with the nine points. 

 

Worsbrough Bridge 2 113-7 (40) 

Sprotbrough 3 114-7 (37.4) 

 

 

Warmsworth 2nds beat Whitley Hall 3rds at home to move up to fifth and blow open the race for the second promotion place. After choosing to bat first, Andy Matthews set the tone at the top of the order as he scored an excellent 85 (115), which turned out to be the biggest score by quite a margin. He took his side to 154-3, and Warmsworth will have been pleased with their final score of 190-8. They were still more pleased by what followed, as a brilliant individual bowling display from Leo McConway-Gee saw Whitley Hall collapse to 116 all out. He ended with figures of 5-28 to cap off an accomplished Warmsworth performance. 

 

Warmsworth 2 190-8 (40) Andy Matthews 85, Mobeen Ilyas 4-21 

Whitley Hall 3 116 (33.5) Leo McConway-Gee 5-28 

 

 

 

 

There was another heavy defeat for bottom side Sheffield United, who they lost away to fourth-placed Adwick-Le-Street by 10 wickets. The visitors had no answer to the home side's bowling, with Christopher Jeeves and Carl Newbold outstanding, and slumped to 31-7. With Luke Bishop in dominant form, Adwick romped home in just the eleventh over. 

 

Sheffield U 3 60 (31.3) Christopher Jeeves 3-14, Carl Newbold 4-15 

Adwick-le-Street 64-0 (10.2) Luke Bishop 46* 

 

 

 

 

Brookhouse recorded a brilliant win against fifth-placed Upper Haugh. After being put in to bat first, the home side were indebted to a half-century from William Adams, who provided the only sustained resistance against a devastating spell of 6-18 by Jawad Khan. Brookhouse then chased down their target inside 28 overs, thanks largely to a fine unbeaten 76 from opening batsman Matthew Kirk. 

 

Upper Haugh 3 129 (25.4) William Adams 53, Jawad Khan 6-18, David Cox 3-29 

Brookhouse 2 130-3 (27.1) Matthew Kirk 76* 

 

 

Third-placed Rockingham Colliery comfortably beat lowly Whiston Forge. The home side’s decision to put their visitors in to bat looked reasonable enough when they were 126-5, but an 89-run sixth-wicket stand between Stephen Bell and Martyn Hewitt then took the Colliery to an impressive total. The home side slumped to 49-4 in reply, with two wickets for Reece Woodhead. David Foote then dominated a sixth-wicket stand of 82 that took them to respectability, but Forge still fell well short. 

 

Rockingham C 3 234-8 (40) Stephen Bell 86, Martyn Hewitt 42, Calvin Dunn 4-24 

Whiston F 2 168 (35) David Foote 57, Alan Lockwood 3-16