BOTTOM club Saltaire beat the weather – and visitors Pudsey Congs – on a day when rain wiped out much of the JCT600 Bradford League programme.

Saltaire have a good record of playing when other games have been called off and the fixture at Roberts Park was the only one to start in Division One.

The 14 points Saltaire gained from their four-wicket win was a reward for the hard work they put in to staging the match when all the other Division One matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Saltaire remain bottom of the table, but they have cut the gap between themselves and second from bottom Farsley to 19 points with five matches to play.

Congs made 128-6 in a match reduced to 24 overs, with top scorer Joe Greaves (35) sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 53 with Andrew Bairstow (28) as Adil Mustafa took 3-39.

Saltaire were in trouble at 38-3, but a fourth-wicket stand of 69 between Asif Ayub (46) and Amer Ayoub set them on course for victory.

Ayub was fourth out at 107, the first of slow left-arm bowler Nick Lindley’s three wickets and, although Lindley also removed Ayub at 119 and then Mustafa with only six needed, Ayoub stood firm with 32 not out as Saltaire eased to victory with five balls to spare.

Two Division Two matches were completed as reduced overs contests. Baildon kept their promotion hopes alive with a five-wicket home win over Yeadon after chasing down the visitors’ total of 115-4 with one ball to spare in a 22-over game.

Skipper Simon Bailey led the way with 57 not out as Baildon earned 12 points on a day when all their promotion rivals were frustrated by rain.

Damon Gormley was top scorer for Yeadon with 36 not out while Waqas Maqsood was Baildon’s top bowler with 3-38. Oliver Halliday took 3-55 for Yeadon.

Bankfoot beat Windhill by 84 runs in the only other Division Two game to be completed after bowling out the visitors for 48 in 17.1 overs with Nigel Hanson taking 5-21 and Hissan Ahmed 4-23.

Bankfoot’s total of 132-7 declared in 25 overs was dominated by their overseas player Cosmond Walters, who hit eight fours and two sixes in his innings of 60. Zafar Jadoon took 3-25 for Windhill.