McCallum stars as Farnley chase title

McCallum hammered an unbeaten 41 off 29 balls as Farnley posted 189-8 that also included 34 from Joe Suggitt.

Openers Connor Williams (39) and Robert Peregrine (30) put on 60 in Birstall’s reply but McCallum (3-27) and Sam Burge (3-39) sent them collapsing to 112-6 before they finished on 151-7.

Farnley climbed to second, three points behind champions Wrenthorpe.

Wakefield Thornes halted their slump by beating Altofts by four wickets.

Matthew Jordan (66) and Phil Callaghan (39) shared a 77-run stand as Thornes recovered from 45-3 to overhaul Altofts’s 195-5 that featured a first-wicket partnership of 103 between Lee Padgett (79) and Brent Law (35).

Batley slipped to the foot of the table with a two-wicket defeat against Northowram Fields. Chris Thompson (3-33) and Mark Gilliver (3-57) limited Batley to 182 after Fawad Maqsood (62) and Mustafa Bhatti (50) shared an opening 110-run stand.

In reply, Robert Larner hit 68 and Ben Grech finished unbeaten on 39 as Northowram scraped home with one over to spare, despite Ayaz Seedat’s 4-55.

Chasing Carlton’s 198-9, Mirfield Parish Cavaliers were 37-2 off 18 overs when rain intervened.

Relegated Ossett are on course for a swift return to the Premier Division after taking a four-point lead in Division One with an 83-run win against Liversedge.

A first-wicket stand of 118 between Robert Wade (71no) and Michael Edwards (56) put Ossett on their way to 196-5 and Khalid Bilal (3-15), Shoaib Latif (3-48), Charles Orme (2-25) and Naveed Sayeed (2-23) sent Liversedge reeling from 61-3 to 113 all out.

Moorlands climbed to second with an 85-run win at former leaders Buttershaw St Paul’s. Chris Stott (42) and Andy Fortis (39) top-scored as Moorlands posted 207-9 that also included a ninth-wicket stand of 58 between Joel Barnett (32) and Sam Brynes (32no).

Tomlinson’s century aids Whiston charge

Several fixtures were called off again after days of non-stop rain, including Premier Division leaders Treeton’s game against Barnsley and champions Elsecar’s date at Baxter Field, against form team Whitley Hall.

With Treeton out of the action, second-placed Whiston made the most of their opportunity to close the gap with victory over visitors Aston Hall.

A half-century from Rob Ward steered Aston to 183-8 and Whiston went on to a nine-wicket triumph, Andy Tomlinson carrying his bat for 101, Steve Taylor chipping in with 34 and Scott Jones’s unbeaten 32 helping steer the Churchfield outfit to the points verdict.

Hallam made their trip to Coal Aston worthwhile when making 171-9 and seeing off the hosts for just 75. Teenager Will Hale struck 71 and Nick Dymock 47 for Hallam and the Aston wickets were shared by Neil Mountjoy and Chris Hughes, with four wickets each.

Wath made short work of hosts Houghton Main, rushed out for 88 with stalwart Rob Barloe grabbing 7-20, the best bowling figures of the day in the league.

Then an unbeaten 48 from former Elsecar all-rounder Lesroy Weekes took Wath to a six-wicket triumph.

Wickersley supplied the day’s other centurion in Shaaiq Choudrhy, the opener cracking 19 boundaries in his fine 103, in a reply of 170-2 to Darfield’s 167. Tahir Maqsood hit 74, with 12 boundaries, for the losers, Pete Hadfield weighing in with 44.

Choudrhy had begun his all-rounder-of-the-day claims with a spell of 4-71, colleague Shahid Hussain chipping in with 3-20.

Conisbrough were runaway winners over Bradfield in Division One, Paul Hemmingway and Matt Barnes striking half-centuries in their 204-9, and Gary Strephen claiming 6-28 in the visitors’ 76.

In the same section, Upper Haugh set a 189 target for Sheffield Collegiate before dismissing the guests for 94, their match-winners being Mark Wright with 64, Steve Reynolds with 57, and Rob Brown, who claimed 6-13.

North Leeds run out of victory chances

On yet another weekend when the number of ducks in the outfield challenged those in the scorebook, the seven games that survived saw some super individual performances and one stunning final over that produced a tie.

John Inglis (54) and Bryan Vance (89) put on 123, giving Beckwithshaw the platform to reach 203-5 in 35 overs at Adel.

With Rob Ellis (4-21) pegging away, the home side were dismissed for 102, though Shaoib Shaikh produced a battling innings of 83.

Majid Khan (35) and Yaser Ali (46) gave Thackley a good foundation against Kirkstall and Joe Ollerenshaw (43no) shared an unbeaten stand of 78 with Mahir Ali, who smashed 59 off 36 balls as his side raced to 225-5.

Kirkstall made a good start with Lee Gordon scoring 65 but then collapsed to 129-6 before Andy Siddall (23) and Paul Malone (31no) steadied things. Thackley got within a wicket of victory but were thwarted by Malone and Oliver Metcalfe, who played out the last three overs.

In Division Two, Jack Paynter hit a half-century in Knaresborough’s 143-8 with Barry Singleton picking up 5-31. Tim Hollis (51) and Tom Boxell (44) knocked off almost half those in an opening stand but then wickets started to tumble.

North Leeds still looked favourites going into the final over needing five to win with four wickets left. Paynter picked up two wickets with the first two balls but missed his hat-trick when a boundary saw the scores level. A dot ball was followed by two run outs leaving the match tied.

Andrew Doidge took 4-21 as Bolton Villas were dismissed for 129, setting up a five-wicket win for Rawdon, who had Joe Loorham dropped at 77-5 before he went on to 43 not out.

Robert Britton hit 60 in Green Lane’s 165-6 and even though they had to settle for four points when Eddie Clayton hit a half-century in Bardsey’s 128-6 reply, they stay in top place.

Nick Thackray (155no) and Jonathan Horner (75) put on 122 in Division Three leaders Colton’s 269-4 but a century from Majid Inayat helped Silsden take two points.