Drakes Huddersfield: Meltham on the up as Minhas strikes

Minhas, Meltham’s non EU all-rounder, saw his side to a 32-run victory over Cawthorne by taking 8-57 in 18.1 overs and making 40. Second-placed Meltham finished on the same number of points as Broad Oak but their additional two wins tipped the balance.

Ironically, Oak felled divisional champions Slaithwaite by 100 runs, bowling them out for just 73 in 27.2 overs, with Alex Slack, Rhys Phillips and Dave Rushworth doing the damage. Tom Graham took six wickets in vain for Slaithwaite.

Marsden are joined in the drop by Hall Bower who lost by 99 runs at Scholes. Joe Carter blasted an undefeated 152 for the winners. Already doomed to relegation, Marsden went down fighting with a six-wicket victory over visitors Skelmanthorpe. The losers had the game’s top batsman in Shoaib Shaikh who made 71.

Holmfirth escaped relegation by a point as they slid to a two-wicket defeat at home to Barkisland. Holmfirth opener Chris Cowell hit 67, his opposite number Jamie Summerscales replying with 62.

Golcar captain Steve Whitwam was the season’s top run-maker with 1281 but he finished the campaign with a duck at Elland who won by seven wickets to capture third spot behind Shepley and Kirkburton. Golcar were dismissed for 121.

Delph & Dobcross had three half-century makers in Arron Lilley, Faisal Butt and Graeme Simpson in a 92-run victory against Honley. Jamshad Ahmad claimed six victims for 61 off 20 overs and Honley’s sixth bowler, Martin Green, took 5-24 from six overs of accurate medium pace.

Shepley completed their highly-successful season with a 27-run win over Kirkburton in the battle of the top two. Liam Wiles made 91, including seven fours and six sixes, for Shepley and took three wickets. Greg Buckley hit 74 for Kirkburton and Andrew Smith plundered all but one of his 33 runs in boundaries!

Amir Rashid struck 77 and took 4-21 in Hoylandswaine’s eight-wicket win at Shelley.