Obstructing the field proves so costly - Saturday league cricket

The most extraordinary conclusion came at King’s Mill Road, where hosts Driffield lost to Scarborough by one run.

Nicky Johnson was given out obstructing the field off the final ball to leave the visitors triumphant by the narrowest of margins.

Scarborough won the toss and batted, which looked the right decision when opener Oliver Stephenson (64) and the in-form Breidyn Schaper (86) put on 86 for the second wicket.

Former Yorkshire all-rounder James Wainman weighed in with 34, adding 70 with Schaper for the fourth wicket, but they still lost six wickets for 41 runs, leaving them on 245-9 and giving Driffield a chacne as James Anson took 4-62 and Johnson 3-53.

Driffield also had two partnerships of note, with opener Noah Kelly (84) and Owen Goldsworthy (51) sharing 70 for the second wicket, and Kelly and Danny Broumpton (50) putting on 92 for the fourth.

From 215-3, however, the wickets started to tumble, and when Kelly went at the start of the 49th over, 16 were still wanted.

A six off the penultimate ball added to the drama, leading to that unusual finale.

Dunnington’s last-wicket pair of Matt Beckett and Dave Brent garnered the nine runs they needed for victory at Woodhouse Grange.

The home side’s ‘Mr Reliable’ Christopher Bilton scored 51 – his fifth half-century of the season – in their 218-6, aided by Harry Gamble (42), Jarryd Basson (34) and an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 54 between Tom Young and Stephen Burdett.

Dunnington were 46-3 but were revived by Adam Sutcliffe (37), George Drury (32) and Daniel Barrett’s rapid 40 and went second, above their opponents.

Castleford, inspired by former county players Chesney Hughes (74) and David Wainwright (32 and 6-32), went back to the top after a 69-run win over Stamford Bridge, but Acomb dropped from first to fifth after their batting failed at York.

The top four met in the Yorkshire South and leaders Appleby Frodingham and fourth-placed Barnsley prevailed.

Consistent battling, led by opener Alex Grimes (58), enabled Appleby Frodingham to score 216-7 after winning the toss at home to Sheffield Collegiate, who were rolled over for 103, with three wickets each for Joe Baker, Kieran Lindley and Jamar Ifill.

Wakefield Thornes chose to bat and made 251-6, with Byron Boshoff (84), Matthew Jordan (55), Greg Wadsworth (43) and Imran Mehboob (43no) the main contributors.

Barnsley judged their run chase, winning by seven wickets with seven balls to spare, with Harpreet Singh Bhatia scoring a magnificent 133 not out off 132 balls, including 13 fours and three sixes. He was aided by captain Jason Booth (57) and Ali Jahangir (52).

Cleckheaton’s overseas player Charity Kumarasignhe made a timely debut, scoring 38 as they notched a notable five-wicket victory at Pudsey St Lawrence in the Bradford Premier League.

Opener Nick Lindley (51) and Ethan Lee (27no) also did well as the visitors upset the apple cart in the Premier Division.

Woodlands have an 11-point lead after opening batsmen Sam Frankland (128) and Tim Jackson (67) added 163 in their 169-run win over Morley, the Richardson brothers (Elliot 5-36 and Scott 3-15) taking over after tea.

New Farnley went second after Aidan Langley (73), Adam Waite (67), Andrew Brewster (3-63) and Jack Dyson (3-68) starred in the 42-run victory over previous joint leaders Townville.

Rawdon’s George Myers made 187 and propelled his team to 435-6 at Horsforth.

His knock only lasted 90 balls and contained 21 fours and 13 sixes. Ben Morley (81) and James Dobson (107) were no slouches either, with shell-shocked Horsforth then being dismissed for 148.

In the Huddersfield League, leaders Hoylandswaine were 85-5 at Delph & Dobcross before Ben Potter’s 91 helped them to 232-9, Adnan Ghani then taking 6-11 as the hosts fell for 52.

On Sunday, Skelmanthorpe have claimed a second successive Premiership scalp in the Huddersfield League’s Sykes Cup.

A round after beating table-topping Thongsbridge, the Jedi Championship club won by two wickets at home to Broad Oak to reach the semi-finals.

Skelmanthorpe won the toss and opted to field, reducing Broad Oak to 68-4 before the latter were revived by stands of 48 and 52 on their way to a 200 total.

Charlie Roebuck led the way with 54, and he was backed up by Sean Mee (33) and Tom McCreadie (31), with Adam Rollin (3-30) and Allan Greenwood (3-24), the sixth bowler used, getting among the wickets.

Skelmanthorpe were themselves pegged back to 43-3 before successive partnerships of 41, 34 and 58 put them on course for victory, which was achieved with two wickets left and 10 balls to spare.

Joe Sykes (57no) was the calming influence in the middle order, and he found a swashbuckling ally in Kasun Hewa (39 in 24 balls, including four fours and three sixes), which took the pressure off Sykes somewhat.

The other semi-finalists are Hoylandswaine, Moorlands and Scholes, with the first two mentioned chasing Thongsbridge for the top-flight leadership.

Scholes’ decision to field first at Delph and Dobcross paid dividends as they dismissed the hosts for 125, with only captain Nathan Jones (26) and No 8 Umer Yaqoob (39) reaching double figures.

Josh Brook (4-31) and Louis Brook (3-27) were the key bowlers, and Scholes won by seven wickets halfway through the 26th over, with Yaasar Imtiaz making 34, Benji Birkhead 25 and Bradley Birkhead 50.

Nadim Hussain (43), James Rawlinson (39) and Siraj Sajid (39 and 3-28) helped

Moorlands to a two-wicket victory at home to Barkisland, while Muhammad Azharullah (4-35), Ranjith Bandula-Don (3-8) and Adnan Ghani (2-8) kept Kirkburton under the cosh in Hoylandswaine’s comfortable 77-run victory.