BATSMEN stole the limelight in the first round of the Jack Hampshire Cup with five players making centuries.

Bowling Old Lane skipper Farakh Hussain blasted 101, an innings containing eight sixes and seven fours, as he led his side to a 135-run win over Gildersome & Farnley Hill.

Overseas player Suideep Yarapureddy smashed an unbeaten 61 from 35 balls with four sixes and four fours. His late onslaught enabled Old Lane to past a total of 297-9. Shawn Nyamusa was the best Gildersome bowler with 3-47.

Gildersome & Farnley Hill were all out for 162 as Amjad Tariq (3-26) and Haroon Tariq (3-40) were the best of the Old Lane bowlers.

The innings of the day was played by Crossbank Methodists' South African player Paul Sauer who scored a magnificent 150 which helped his side to a 174-run win over Rodley.

Sauer struck six sixes and 15 fours as Crossbank made 315-7 in their 40 overs.

Rodley were bowled out for 141 with Louis Bentley (5-21) producing the best bowling performance of the round. John Warterfield battled hard for his side's top score of 50.

Opener Daniel White hit an unbeaten 127 to guide Carlton to an eight-wicket win over Oulton. Daniel Ford (67no) and Daniel Wilbor (46) enabled Carlton to chase down Oulton's 266-7.

Liversedge's Wasim Khaliq was another batsman in sparkling form. Khaliq hit four sixes and 17 fours as he guided his side to a 10-wicket win over Heckmondwike & Carlinghow.

Khaliq was joined in an unbroken first-wicket stand of 188 by his skipper Graham Winn who finished 70 not out as his side overhauled Heckmondwike's 187-7. Their total was built around half-centuries from Adam Holt (80no) and Usman Qureshi (54).

Birstall's Eric Austin has been a prolific runscorer for may seasons and he showed his run-scoring ability once again with an unbeaten 106.

The opener hit 14 fours and shared in two century partnerships as his side defeated Northowram Fields by 167 runs.

He put on 152 for the first wicket with Josh Haynes who smashed 92 from 66 balls. Rishy Limbechaya (39) joined Austin to add 117 for the second wicket as Birstall made a score of 275-2.

Haynes put the seal on a good Birstall performance by taking 3-16 as Northowram Field were dismissed for 108.

Conference leaders Jer Lane eased into the second round with a 54-run win over Azaad. Nahim Ashraf's 87 helped the league newcomers to a total of 271-6.

Azaad replied with 217 with Umar Mirza (53) and Imran Mahboob (40) top scoring in the face of good bowling from Gurdev Singh (5-32).

Amril Singh's 86 helped Brighouse to overhaul Spen Victoria's 172-8 and secure a six-wicket win. Qaiser Hamed (39) was the other main contributor while Ollie Davison (46) top scored in Spen Victoria's 172-8.

Great Preston eased into the second round with 113-run win over East Leeds. Half-centuries from Jack Morrison (69) and James Conlon (57) saw them make 252-9 despite the efforts of Banaras Hussain (4-44) and Tom Chapman (3-37). East Leeds were bowled out for 139 with Joe Schofield taking 4-43.

East Ardsley were the day's quickest winners as they saw off Windhill & Daisy Hill by eight wickets. Louie Hurley took 4-38 as Windhill were skittled out for the day's lowest score of 90. East Ardsley lost two wickets reaching their target.