Steeton in final

It is the second time they have reached the final - the last time being in 1969 when they lost to Guiseley at Burley - and they will be aiming to win the cup for the first time.

In a semi-final stretching over three days due to rain they beat Calverley away by four wickets, play starting on Sunday and continuing on Monday and Tuesday.

Their victory came thanks to a total team effort for on Tuesday evening they needed 111 runs off 15 overs and they reached their target with 11 balls to spare, Andy Smith playing a captain's innings to steer his side to victory.

On Monday evening Calverley took their total from 139-2 to 201-6 in the 10 overs they had left from Sunday and the total would have been more but for two fine stumpings by Mark Hedges and two outstanding catches by Matthew Pinniger.

D Hopkinson, 64, and N Waite, 60, were the best of the Calverley batsmen and for Steeton Chris Taylor took 3-48 off nine overs, no maidens. Other Steeton bowling figures were Gary Boulton 9-0-33-1, Neil Spragg 9-1-41-1 and Guy Saxton 18-3-68-1.

Batting in what was the best light of the game on Monday evening Steeton found themselves at 91-2 off 30 overs when play stopped and so it went to Tuesday, with Spragg top scoring on 41 and Smith being undefeated on 33.

The Calverley bowling figures were A Aldred 3-0-30-2, D Hopkinson 19.1-2-75-2, N Ashraf 2-0-7-1, B Wilson 17-2-65-0 and Waite 2-0-10-0.

Calverley: A Carroll c Boulton b Spragg 34; N Waite c Hedges b Boulton 60; N Ashraf c Hedges b Saxton 18; D Hopkinson st Hedges b Taylor 64; S Aldred c Pinniger b Taylor 6; N Thornton c Pinniger b Taylor 1; M Stringer not out 1; B Wilson not out 1; extras 16; total (for 6) 201.

Steeton: R Wynn c Suddick b Hopkinson 28; G Saxton c Suddick b Hopkinson 19; M Pinniger run out 26; N Spragg c Thornton b Aldred 41; R Newton c Waite b Ashraf 29; M Hedges lbw Aldred 0; A Smith not out 33; P Barrett not out 5; extras 24; total (for 6) 203.

On Saturday Skipton lost by two wickets at home to Calverley despite captain Mark Whitaker setting a fine example with 83 as his side batted first and scored 190-8. He reached his 50 in as many minutes and his score included six fours.

Unfortunately Colin Nuthall struggled to recapture his early season form but Whitaker and Sean Atkinson, 34, put on 85 for the third wicket before Atkinson was given out to a questionable decision. Martin Redhead joined Whitaker and scored a quick 34 which included a well-timed sweep for six but after him the rest of the batsmen failed to reach double figures.

The first wicket fell on 22, the second on 33 and the third on 118. The fourth went down on 161, the fifth on 184, the sixth on 187 and the seventh and eighth on 188.

Pick of the Calverley bowlers was J Holah who finished with 4-14 off three overs, no maidens, and took two wickets in two balls. The other figures were D Hopkinson 19-4-65-2, K Rehman 11-4-22-1, N Waite 10-0-50-1 and B Wilson 7-1-33-0.

A fourth-wicket stand of 104 by Holah, 45, and Australian Hopkinson, 78, paved the way for their side's victory with 191-8, the stand being broken by an excellent run-out by Atkinson who only had one stump to aim at, and he also took two difficult catches.

However at least two vital catches were dropped by the Skipton fielders, costing the side valuable points in their bid to avoid relegation.

The first Calverley wicket fell on 18, the second on 28 and the third on 42. The fourth fell on 146, the fifth on 159, the sixth and seventh on 164 and the eighth on 174.

Mick Scott again bowled unchanged at one end to finish with 4-70 off 24.4 overs, eight maidens, taking three wickets in his last four overs. The other figures were Matthew Taylor 13-2-56-2, Steve Young 7-0-30-0 and Gareth Lee 4-0-28-0.

Skipton: M Whitaker c Hopkinson b Holah 83; S Young b Hopkinson 17; C Nuthall lbw Rehman 3; S Atkinson st Suddick b Waite 34; M Redhead c Ashraf b Holah 34; G Lee b Holah 7; R Greenwood c and b Holah 3; M Scott b Hopkinson 0; J Hughes not out 1; M Wilson not out 0; extras 8; total (for 8) 190.

Calverley: A Carroll b Scott 20; N Waite b Taylor 1; N Ashraf c Atkinson b Taylor 12; J Holah run out 45; D Hopkinson c Atkinson b Scott 78; S Alred b Scott 2; N Thornton lbw Scott 9; K Rehman run out 0; A Alred not out 7; B Wilson not out 10; extras 7; total (for 8) 191.

Steeton lost by 10 wickets away to Knaresborough. They were all out for 115, Gary Boulton getting 27 and Russell Newton 24 and S Booth taking 8-27 in 24.1 overs for the home side.

Knaresborough won with 116-0, J Corcoran hitting 83 not out and M Stanford 23 not out.

Silsden lost by five wickets away to Burley, hitting 153-8 and then seeing Burley take victory with 154-5.

David Jackson scored 41 and John Akrigg 24 for the South Craveners who lost their first wicket on 15, their second on 51 and their third on 56. The fourth fell on 89, the fifth on 103, the sixth on 120 and the seventh and eighth on 127.

The Burley bowling figures were N Brook 13-2-40-3, A Godfrey 10-1-36-2, D Hird 15-5-38-2 and I Normington 12-4-29-1.

D Brook, 50, and J Davey, 42 not out, led the way for Burley, whose wickets fell on 12, 24, 70, 95 and 106.

For the South Craveners Mark Akrigg took 2-43 off nine overs, two maidens, Andy Pullen 2-43 off 20, nine maidens, and John K Roberts 1-48 off nine, one maiden. Adrian Emmott had figures of 3-0-9-0.

Silsden: D Jackson c Arundell b N Brook 41; B Walker c Hird b N Brook 9; T Sugden c Thorne b N Brook 4; J Akrigg c Thorne b Hird 24; A Knowles c Normington b Godfrey 23; H Sugden c Davey b Godfrey 2; A Pullen b Hird 16; C Meehan c Hird b Normington 2; M Akrigg not out 16; A Emmott not out 6; extras 10; total (for 8) 153.

Burley: A Arundell b J K Roberts 3; D Hird c H Sugden b Pullen 13; D Brook b M Akrigg 50; R Brook lbw Pullen 9; I Normington st Sugden b M Akrigg 22; M Robinson not out 2; J Davey not out 42; extras 13; total (for 5) 154.

Addingham had a nine-wicket home win over Green Lane. They had the visitors all out for 83, Craig Turner taking 6-41 for them, and then they hit 86-1, Darrell Robinson scoring 49 not out and Richard Simpson 26.

Skipton 2nds returned to form with a comfortable winning draw away to Ilkley 2nds with Shabir Hussain captaining the side in the absence of Keith Phillip.

After losing the toss Skipton were put into bat and they were struggling on 19-2, but then the innings started to pick up a bit of momentum with Mohammad Saghir and Shabir Hussain who put on 30 for the next wicket.

Saghir was looking good with his last two scoring shots being a four and a big six when he tried to play against the spin of C Rackham and got a leading edge to give the bowler a simple catch.

Paul Barker was next in and he also looked good against the spin but he was bowled for 12 to make it 76-4 and his was the first of three wickets to fall for just eight runs which meant Skipton were back on the defensive again at 84-6, with the crucial wicket of Shabir Hussain, who top scored with 29, being the third of them to fall.

Kevin Owens and Riaz Hussain then put on 24 for the seventh wicket with Hussain in particular looking to go for some big shots and Skipton went on to total a respectable 148-9 with Owens undefeated on 28.

The Ilkley bowling figures were R Jones 16-2-40-4, C Appleyard 13-3-34-2, M Clegg 11-2-18-1, Rackham 8-1-36-1 and J Mutton 2-0-7-0.

In the Ilkley innings Barker struck twice in five balls thanks to well-taken catches by Daniel Lamb to leave them reeling on 6-2.

They then struggled to 53-7 with 16 overs left and the Skipton fielders closed in sensing victory.

However Clegg and W Varley, who both finished on 25 not out, saved Ilkley from defeat the side finishing on 104-7.

The Skipton bowlers performed extremely well with the pick being Shabir Hussain who finished with 15-9-14-4. Other excellent bowling came from Barker, 15-7-29-3, Saghir, 17-4-40-0, and Fesser Hussain, 3-1-7-0.

Skipton 2nds: J Christie c Jones b Appleyard 5; A Ali c Henry b Jones 4; M Saghir c and b Rackham 26; S Hussain b Jones 29; P Barker b Jones 12; S Rogers b Clegg 1; K Owens not out 28; R Hussain c and b Jones 18; F Hussain lbw Appleyard 5; A Rashid run out 4; extras 16; total (for 9) 148.

Ilkley 2nds: M Hughes c Rashid b S Hussain 1; D Scargill c Lamb b Barker 6; J Henry c Lamb b Barker 0; R Jones c Owens b Barker 17; S Rhodes lbw S Hussain 8; E Maclean c Owens b S Hussain 1; C Rackham b S Hussain 2; M Clegg not out 25; W Varley not out 25; extras 19; total (for 7) 104.

Silsden 2nds went down by 37 runs at home to Knaresborough 2nds, being all out for 104 in reply to 141-6.

Knaresborough, for whom G Simmons hit 52, lost their first wicket on nine, and then added 77 for the second. The third fell on 88, the fourth on 95, the fifth on 106 and the sixth on 111.

For the South Craveners Paul Bainbridge took 4-41 off 13 overs, one maiden, and Steve Crooks 1-10 off six, one maiden. The other figures were Mick Hardwick 5-0-15-0, David Wall 2-0-19-0 and David Baluk 16-1-48-0.

Ian Sagar top scored with 33 not out for Silsden, who lost their first wicket on 24, the second on 34 and the third on 48. The fourth fell on 66, the fifth on 86, the sixth and seventh on 89, the eighth on 100 and the ninth on 101.

The Knaresborough bowling figures were S Bridson 9-0-23-5, J Smith 8-0-27-3, M Baxendall 12-4-16-1, P Fabretti 7-1-19-1 and M Dobby 6-0-16-0.

Knaresborough 2nds: I Skinner c and b P Bainbridge 29; D Pickles b Crooks 2; G Simmons lbw P Bainbridge 52; G Whiles c Savage b P Bainbridge 2; J Bell c and b P Bainbridge 11; J Smith run out 4; S Bridson not out 24; A Carey not out 7; extra 10; total (for 6) 141.

Silsden 2nds: S Crooks c and b Baxendall 16; D Bainbridge c Bridson b Fabretti 16; I Sagar not out 33; P Hanson b Bridson 12; D Wall b Bridson 3; G Savage c Carey b Bridson 11; I Pullen c Bell b Smith 2; P Bainbridge c Pickles b Bridson 0; G Byrne b Smith 6; D Baluk b Bridson 0; M Hardwick b Smith 1; extras 4; total 104.

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