Senior Section round-up 21 August - Part I

 

 

A solid performance by the visitors’ top order gave them a very respectable total after being put in to bat at Green Lane. Openers James Butler (24) and Jake Rimmington got them off to a fine start with a stand of 77, and whilst Fida Mohammad and Yousaf Ali bowled the home side back into the game, bottom-of-the-division Aston Hall were facing a tough task when the rain caused the game to be abandoned. 

 

South Kirkby C 207 (50) Jake Rimmington 46, Steve Secker 37, Yousaf Ali 3-51, Fida Mohammad 4-58 

Aston Hall 2 70-2 (17) 

 

 

Green Moor kept up the pace in second place with what turned out to be a routine victory away at Hallam 2nds. In a game which was limited to 30 overs, Hallam put their visitors into bat but failed to limit them as they posted 177-6. Wayne Hughes was by far and away the star of the show for the away side as he plundered 88 off 66 balls, backed up by an anchoring innings from Jamie Dixon, as the pair added 147 for the fourth wicket to rescue their side from 14-3. Hughes was to contribute again in the second innings when Green Moor bowled Hallam out for 131, and Jake Rodgers came away with 4-17 from nine overs with an economy rate of just 1.89. There was notable resistance from Matthew Hopkins at number nine after the hosts had been reduced to 51-7, when he scored 43 (36 balls) but it was too little too late and the home side, eleventh in the table, remain in serious danger. 

 

Green Moor 177-6 (30) Jamie Dixon 49, Wayne Hughes 88, Jay Singh 3-45 

Hallam 2 131 (29.5) Matthew Hopkins 43, Jake Rodgers 4-17 

 

 

A remarkably high-scoring shortened game at Rotherham Town saw the hosts beat Treeton 2nds in a chase that went to the final over. After the visitors had chosen to bat in the 30-over game, they will have been thrilled to post 206 for the loss of just three wickets. Matt Lambert carried his bat as he scored an excellent unbeaten 83 (87) which, along with 36 extras, put his team in what seemed to be a very strong position to move further away from the drop zone. Town, however, mounted a successful run chase, passing their target with just four balls to spare, and like the visitors, losing only three wickets. The crucial partnership, between Talha Shaheer and Irfan Mirza, added 85 for the third wicket, Mirza hitting an unbeaten 72 off 53 balls. 

 

Treeton 2 206-3 (30) Matt Lambert 83*, Will Cooper 46 

Rotherham T 210-3 (29.2) Rahim Karim 32, Talha Shaheer 57, Irfan Mirza 72* 

 

 

Shiregreen stayed top of the league with a routine win away at Sheffield United, and their hosts remained firmly in the drop zone. After electing to bat, the away side posted 196-9 in their 50 overs, although no batsman made it to 40. Three players got into the thirties, with number eleven Abdul Latif’s unbeaten 35 off 31 balls providing a flourish at the end. United’s Mihindukulasuriya Harsha Perera took his wickets tally for the season to an impressive 46. When the home side replied, the first wicket fell with the first ball of the innings when Abdul Latif removed Isuru Jayakody, and Shiregreen never really looked back from there. Four of their bowlers took wickets, with Muhammed Naseem being pick of the bunch, taking 4-26 from nine overs. 

 

Shiregreen 196-9 (50) Marshall Zeeshan 34, Muhammad Ishtiaq 31, Abdul Latif 35*, Mihindukulasuriya Harshsa Perera 4-52 

Sheffield U 84 (32.5) Ilyas Mohammed 43, Abdul Latif 3-23, Muhammad Naseem 4-26 

 

Upper Haugh v Darfield – match cancelled (3pts each) 

 

 

Whitley Hall elected to bat first in this mid-table encounter, but struggled against the varied visitors’ attack, in which Joe Cuthbertson was outstanding. But having put themselves in a strong position, Thornes were thwarted by the weather and the game was abandoned before they could start their reply. 

 

Whitley Hall 2 118-9 (35) Joe Cuthbertson 4-27 

Wakefield T 2 did not bat 

 

 

 

Doncaster picked up a crucial four-wicket win over Elsecar 2nds, to take an important lead of the top of the division. Four wickets from Bradley Heaps helped the home side reduce Elsecar to 41-5 before Elliot Evans and Jason Meadows put on 51 for the fifth wicket to effect a partial recovery. But when Warren Graca removed Meadows for 28 the last six wickets fell for just eleven runs. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the league leaders in reply, and they were 42-4 before Kirk Bennett steered them home with an unbeaten 26. Doncaster strengthen their position at the top, whilst Elsecar look doomed to relegation. 

 

Elsecar 2 103-9 dec (26.5) Elliott Evans 42*, Bradley Heaps 4-32 

Doncaster T 2 105-6 (26.4) Matthew Tonks 3-47 

 

 

Frecheville kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive with a crucial three-wicket win over relegation rivals Thorncliffe. Having been asked to bat first, the visitors were soon in trouble and Jack Pearson’s 33 off 30 balls was the only real resistance to Max Dexter, who took his second five-wicket haul of the season. With four early wickets falling to James Brown, Frecheville quickly slipped to 17-5 in reply, but Martyn Tideswell (21) and Tom Powell turned the tide with a fifth-wicket stand of 27, before Elliot Metcalfe (22*) and Adam Buckle (20*) saw their side over the line. 

 

Thorncliffe 97 (20.1) Jack Pearson 33, Mat Dexter 5-48, Michael Donson 3-9 

Frecheville C 101-7 (19.1) James Brown 5-33 

 

 

Norton Woodseats and Coal Aston were left frustrated as rain spoiled what might have been an interesting finish. Woodseats opening batsman James Eyre, who put on 126 with Daniel Turner for the third wicket, fell one short of a century but ensured that his side set a daunting target in an innings reduced to 40 overs. Jack and Benjamin Hall took Coal Aston to 112-2, but ominously Aamir Ashfaque took three wickets to turn the game in the home side’s favour when the rain had the last word. 

 

Norton Woodseats 214-5 (40) James Eyre 99, Daniel Turner 63 

Coal Aston 129-5 (23.1) Jack Hall 59, Benjamin Hall 39*, Aamir Ashfaque 3-17 

 

 

Sheffield Collegiate 3rds put themselves into the promotion driving seat with a comprehensive victory over relegation-threatened Worsbrough Bridge. The father-and-son opening partnership of Adrian and Samuel Meadows out on 195 for the first wicket, with Meadows junior leading the way with 108. Opening bowler Owen Wilkinson all three wickets to fall for Worsbrough. Louie Owens took two early wickets for Collegiate, before Alex Littlewood (29) and Mark Wilkinson (25) added 45 for Worsbrough’s third wicket. But after Lewis Bent had removed Wilkinson, wickets fell regularly and the visitors succumbed to a heavy defeat. 

 

Sheffield C 3 226-3 dec (43) Adrian Meadows 92, Samuel Meadows 108, Owen Wilkinson 3-51 

Worsbrough Bridge 105 (24.2) Louie Owens 3-33, Lewis Bent 4-19, Lawrie Brennan 3-15 

 

 

Norton Oakes 96-2 (30) Rob Drinkwater 39 

Thorpe Hesley & High Green did not bat 

 

 

Monk Bretton dropped out of the promotion places after rain hit Northfield Lane. Having been put in to bat, the home side got off to a decent start through Ben Richardson and Adam Bashford, after which Jonathan Allan hit a valuable half-century whilst Kyle Armitage ran through most of his colleagues at the other end. The rain then came and prevented the second innings going ahead. The three points did not help Monk Bretton, but they are still very much in the promotion race; whilst Wickersley remain in seventh place. 

 

Wickersley OV 2 186 (39.3) Adam Bashford 31, Ben Richardson 33, Jonathan Allen 65, Kyle Armitage 6-35 

Monk Bretton did not bat 

 

 

 

Kexborough 71-2 (14.3) Richard Burgess 39* 

Caribbean SC did not bat 

 

 

 

After the home side had decided to bat first, Waheed Bhatti and Ismaeel Afram scored 21 apiece to give their side a 53-run opening stand. The bowlers then seized control through Shahid Mohammed and Lucas Slatter to restrict Oughtibridge to 128. In reply, Rockingham had lost three early wickets before the weather intervened to spoil their chances of gaining much-needed points in their battle to stave off relegation. 

 

Oughtibridge WM 2 128 (30) Shahid Mohammed 3-32, Lucas Slatter 4-12 

Rockingham C 2 37-3 (11.3) 

 

 

Penistone stretched their lead at the top of the table with a comprehensive win over relegation-threatened Barnsley Woolley Miners 3rds. After putting their visitors into bat, Christopher Walmsley did the bulk of the damage for Penistone as the visitors were bowled out for just 42, taking his wickets tally for the season to 36. Remarkably, Callum Gough got more than half of those runs with an unbeaten 28, whilst eight of his colleagues recorded ducks. The chase was a formality and was completed in just seven overs without the loss of a wicket, Tom Reid leading the way with an unbeaten 34 off 22 balls. 

 

Barnsley WM 3 42 (19) Chistopher Walmsley 5-9 

Penistone 43-0 (7) Tom Reid 34* 

 

 

Visiting skipper Robert Wade took his run tally for the season up to 682 as he helped his side reach 84-1. After that, the home side’s bowlers took control and nine wickets fell for the addition of 49 runs. Sprotbrough needed the win to put pressure on the top two, and Silkstone to help their fight against relegation, but both were thwarted as rain prevented more than five overs in the second innings. 

 

Silkstone U 133-8 (25) Robert Wade 44, Nicky Graves 3-32, Harry Gateley 3-29 

Sprotbrough 2 20-1 (5) 

 

 

 

 

 

Second-in-the-table Bradfield had an excellent win against fourth-placed Sheffield Collegiate. The visitors elected to bat first but they never got going against some excellent bowling by Will Higson, Adam Broughton and James Shepherd. They lost three early wickets, partially recovered to 51-3 but then lost their last seven wickets for 34 runs, Broughton claiming a remarkable 4-6 in eight overs. Despite them losing four wickets, the home team quickly knocked off the runs, with James Shepherd hitting 41 off 32 balls and Jonathan Balfour an unbeaten 29 in 17. 

 

Sheffield C 4 85 (30) Will Higson 3-28, Adam Broughton 4-6, James Shepherd 3-25 

Bradfield VF 91-4 (16.1) James Shepherd 41 

 

 

Parkhead completed a comfortable eight-wicket win over Hallam 3rds to stay top of the division. An opening stand of 139 between captain Robert Frost and William Laycock was the foundation for Hallam’s very respectable 199-6 off 40 overs. Harrison Vinall then took the headlines with an excellent hundred, sharing in a second wicket standoff 137 with Oliver Hsrrison, to take his side to victory. Hallam are still two places below safety with games running out. 

 

Hallam 3 199-6 (40) Robert Frost 73, William Laycock 69, Zohaib Hassan 35, Chris Turner 3-59, James Speck 3-33 

Parkhead 202-2 (37) Harrison Vinall 102, Oliver Harrison 57* 

 

 

Fifth-placed Higham had no difficulty in inflicting a nine-wicket defeat on next-to-bottom Hampole and Skelbrooke. Opening bowler Joseph Green did most of the damage with 6-26 in nine overs and no home batsman reached 20. Andrew Wood saw his side to victory in just eight overs with an unbeaten 30. 

 

Hampole & Skelbrooke 59 (23.5) Joseph Green 6-26 

Higham 63-1 (8) Andrew Wood 30* 

 

 

Third-placed Cawthorne recorded an easy win over struggling Mexborough at the Athletic Club. After electing to bat first the home team were all out for 101 runs as first-change bowler Gareth Kilburn took 5-26, with only captain James Lomas (26) offering much resistance. Stephen Roebuck and Spencer Wiles made short work of the run chase, knocking off the required 102 in just 14.3 overs. 

 

Mexborough A 101-9 (20) Gareth Kilburn 5-26 

Cawthorne 2 102-0 (14.3) Stephen Roebuck 52*, Spencer Wiles 45* 

 

 

Shiregreen ended Millhouses recent winning run with a four-wicket win. Having decided to bat first, Millhouses got off to a decent start through Iain Mallett (22), Tom Roper (28) and John Woods (20) before Akhtar Khan took three wickets to peg them back. At that point, Ben Hyman weighed in with an unbeaten half-century to give the visitors something to bowl against. The home side chased down the total with an over spare, as captain Skipper Nazam Mohammed led the way from number three with 72, which brought his total runs for the team this season to 650. After he had been dismissed by Hyman, Aurangzeb Hanif’s unbeaten 30 took Shiregreen to a victory that leaves the two sides occupying sixth and seventh places in the table. 

 

Shiregreen 2 179-6 (30) Ben Hyman 53*, Akhtar Khan 4-43 

Millhouses W 181-6 (29) Nazam Mohammed 72, Aurangzeb Hanif 30*