Lightcliffe and Elland picked up key home wins to ease relegation fears yesterday.
Priestley Cup finalists Lightcliffe moved out of the bottom two in the Bradford League’s Premier Division with a Suleman Khan-inspired win over Undercliffe.
The visitors scored 187 for six, slow bowler Khan showing superb control to get through 15 overs for 20 runs, taking three wickets.
Undercliffe were 115 for six near the end of the 40th over but Usman Salim (38 no) and skipper Michael Kelsey (42 no) raised the visitors’ hopes of success.
The ultra-consistent Alex Stead (42) shook off the loss of opening partner Josh Wheatley with Lightcliffe’s score on nine but when he was third out on 70 in the 28th over, the hosts had work to do.
Pakistani Khan saw them home with 58 not out, timing things to perfection as the Wakefield Road men won by three wickets with just two balls to spare.
Lightcliffe are now fourth from bottom and Elland occupy the same place in the Huddersfield’s Premiership after an 84-run win over bottom side Slaithwaite.
The Hullen Edge men batted first and posted an impressive 302 for six with Robin Broom’s 115 the top contribution.
Rising star Siraj Sajid hit 64 and he followed up with five for 45 off 15 overs as the visitors were limited to 216 for nine after a bright start.
Elland’s Calderdale rivals Barkisland lost by 23 runs away to third-placed Honley with spinner Chris Williams (three for 40), Kiwi Tim Seifert (52) and all-rounder Alex Scholefield (34) their top performers.
Brighouse suffered a crushing 223-run home defeat at the hands of title-gunning Morley in Division Two of the Bradford League.
The home bowlers were put to the sword in an unbroken stand of 178 between Matthew Baxter (108 no) and Kashif Naveed (100 no) as Morley rattled up 329 for three.
Brighouse mustered only 106 in reply with pace bowler Matthew Dowse (five for 35) doing plenty of damage.
Another good knock from Kiwi Danny Gibbs was to no avail for Illingworth, who lost by 32 runs at home to Ben Rhydding in the middle section of the Aire/Wharfe League.
Gibbs made 114 not out at the top of the order but the damage had been done earlier with the visitors from Ilkley having posted 281.
BRADFORD LEAGUE
Division One
Lightcliffe v Undercliffe
Lightcliffe won by 2 wkts
UNDERCLIFFE 187 for six
F Hussain b J Wheatley 36
H Khan c J Whiteoak b S Khan 18
G Ahmed lbw b S Khan 5
A Raja c J Wheatley b S Khan 14
F Ashraf lbw b J Wheatley 17
U Salim not out 38
L Brearley b C Greenwood 9
M Kelsey not out 42
Extras 8
Bowling: J Whiteoak 6.0 0 36 0, R Burton 5.0 1 14 0, S Khan 15.0 5 20 3, C Greenwood 8.0 1 33 1, J Wheatley 14.0 1 60 2, D Ahmed 2.0 0 16 0
LIGHTCLIFFE 189 for eight
A Stead c U Salim b Z Qasim 42
J Wheatley b F Ashraf 0
S Jowett b A Hussain 19
S Khan not out 58
R Powe lbw b M Kelsey 38
R Burton b M Kelsey 7
M Horne b Z Qasim 11
J Whiteoak b Z Qasim 1
R Thompson b F Ashraf 0
D Ahmed not out 1
Extras 12
Bowling: F Ashraf 15.0 2 47 2, Z Qasim 14.4 2 47 3, A Hussain 9.0 2 37 1, A Ahmed 6.0 0 27 0, M Kelsey 4.0 0 17 2, G Ahmed 1.0 0 5 0.
Division Two
Brighouse v Morley
Morley won by 223 runs. Brighouse 1 pt, Morley 20 pts.
MORLEY 329 for three
J McNichol c M Khurshid b N Hussain 51
R Jubb b N Hussain 26
K Watts lbw b S Hussain 34
M Baxter not out 108
K Naveed not out 100
Extras 10
Bowling: N Hussain 15.0 1 71 2, A Ladak 7.0 1 35 0, M Zahid 8.0 0 47 0, S Hussain 9.0 0 56 1, S Matharu 2.0 0 14 0, G Makwana 3.0 0 27 0, W Hussain 3.0 0 35 0, C Lee 3.0 0 39 0.
BRIGHOUSE 106
W Hussain c K Watts b M Dowse 5
A Hussain c K Naveed b N Bromby 9
M Khurshid+ c J McNichol b M Dowse 9
S Hussain c K Watts b N Bromby 10
N Goldsborough c L Heinemann b N Bromby 0
M Zahid c C Nuthall b M Dowse 19
N Hussain c L Heinemann b M Dowse 10
G Makwana b M Dowse 0
S Matharu c R Jubb b D Nebard 16
C Lee b B Jenkinson 16
A Ladak not out 1
Extras 11
Bowling: N Bromby 12.0 3 35 3, M Dowse 14.0 4 37 5, K Naveed 1.0 0 1 0, B Jenkinson 6.1 1 22 1, D Nebard 3.0 0 6 1.
HUDDERSFIELD LEAGUE
Premier
Elland v Slaithwaite
Elland won by 84 runs
ELLAND 302 for six
N Lockley c Hill b Kilner 41
P Winrow c Holt b Berry 32
R Broom c Bremner b Quarmby 115
A Blakey b Bremner 30
S Sajid lbw b Walker 64
B Speak b Quarmby 3
N Desai not out 9
M Hinchliffe not out 1
Extras 7
Bowling: C Kilner 7 1 39 1, I Hales 4 0 28 0, A Walker 7 1 43 1, D Berry 15 0 77 1, D Hill 3 0 16 0, M Bremner 8 0 56 1, H Quarmby 6 0 39 2.
SLAITHWAITE 216 for nine
M Bremner b Broom 62
I Holt b Sajid 31
S Rashid c Blakey b Sajid 27
D Berry c Hinchliffe b Gardner 45
D Hill c Desai b Sajid 5
C Kilner b Broom 1
A Walker c Blakey b Sajid 5
M Berry st Speak b Sajid 2
H Quarmby b Broom 0
T Healey not out 18
I Hales not out 0
Extras 20
Bowling: N Desai 5 0 27 0, A Finn 7 0 39 0, M Hinchliffe 5 0 21 0, S Sajid 15 1 45 5, R Broom 15 0 62 3, W Gardner 3 0 18 1.
Honley 233-6 (T Sykes 51, A Crispe 49, T Taylor 49, S Kelly 46; C Williams 3-40), Barkisland 210 (T Seifert 52, A Scholefield 34; S Denton 4-64)
AIRE/WHARFE LEAGUE
Division Two
Illingworth v Ben Rhydding
Ben Rhydding won by 32 runs.
BEN RHYDDING 281
F Hamilton c V Brooksby b A Dixon 18
M Proudman c M Sewell b S Cook 0
C Swallow c D Brooksby b A Dixon 57
R Miller b B Robertshaw 33
L Bolton c L Brooksby b B Robertshaw 5
K Christmas c D Brooksby b S Cook 5
R Bolton c and b B Robertshaw 77
R Oldham c B Robertshaw b A Dixon 22
A Miller c L Brooksby b B Robertshaw 31
T Pratt c J Moorhouse b S Cook 2
T Wood not out 5
Extras 26
Bowling: S Cook 15.0 1 60 3, L Brooksby 8.0 2 39 0, A Dixon 10.0 0 76 3, J Lewis 5.0 0 28 0, B Robertshaw 11.3 1 57 4.
ILLINGWORTH 249 for five
Danny Gibbs not out 114
M Sewell lbw b Miller 7
A Dixon b Miller 21
B Robertshaw b Miller 0
L Brooksby b Christmas 37
V Brooksby b Christmas 23
Joe Lewis not out 34
Extras 13
Bowling: C Swallow 14.0 3 54 0, Tom Pratt 5.0 2 22 0, A Miller 15.0 0 78 3, K Christmas 15.0 0 77 2, T Wood 1.0 0 8 0.