FAISAL Javed had a weekend to remember as the 2019 cricket season drew to a close.

A day after helping Batley win Championship Division One in the All Rounder Cricket Bradford Premier League, Javed scored a superb 123 to win the man-of-the-match award in the Quaid-e-Azam League’s blue-riband decider at Saltaire.

Javed’s innings rescued Kashmir (Dewsbury) from 39-4 to 254-8 in the Yasmin & Shaid Solicitors Cup final and, despite some late pyrotechnics from skipper Zeeshan Qasim, Keighley RZM could only muster 200 as Kashmir beat the fading light and the odd spot of rain to take the spoils.

No 5 Javed, who put on 119 for the sixth wicket with Farukh Alam (38), said: “Iqbal Khan, who is an experienced pro, and I struggled early on but the opening bowlers (Istikhar Hussain and another Iqbal Khan) did really well and it was hard to get going.

“But once we saw those opening spells off and got some partnerships going it got a lot easier, and the more time you spent out there the easier it got as the wicket was slightly two-paced.

“By the end of my innings I had shared partnerships with Siraj Sajid (13), Farukh Alam and Muhammad Ali (29) and it was coming off the middle of the bat nicely, but we had needed to dig in and I was really tired.

“We thought that if we batted 45 overs and got close to 200 we would be okay, and thankfully we got well over what we wanted to get.”

Hussain finished with 4-55 off nine overs, while fellow opening bowler Khan returned 1-19 off seven overs.

The final was played in coloured clothing with an orange ball, and Javed said: “I find batting against a coloured ball – be it pink or white or orange - a little easier as it is a bit lighter and when you hit it it goes.

“The real challenge is red-ball cricket when it is swinging about so it would have been a lot more difficult early on had it been a red ball.”

RZM’s innings mirrored that of Kashmir in many ways, and they were 15-3 before Mustashan Ali (29) and Yasar Ali (15) added 39 for the fourth wicket and Ali and Sajad Ali (17) then put on 34.

Javed said: “They were finding it as difficult as we had.

“We were worried for a bit when Zeeshan was batting as he is a good player – I dropped him (at long on when he had made 25), which doesn’t help, but that is part of the game – but he was the only one who was hitting it in the middle of the bat and they were 90-6 when he came to the wicket.”

Mohammed Shahnwaz took 3-23 off nine overs and Sajid 3-46 off eight.

RZM’s Mushy Shah said: “Faisal’s was an excellent knock in the middle order and took the game away from us after we had them 75-5 but our opening bowlers did well up top.

“The first 10-15 overs are always difficult at Saltaire with a green top but that one knock changed the game.

“Scoreboard pressure is there (and probably led to the run out of Gulsheraz Ahmed) but Darulshafa knocked off 260 a few years ago and we have a strong battling line-up but we let them get 30-40 runs too many and it was just out of reach.”

As for playing in the Premier Division with Batley, who clinched the title with victory on the final day after suffering three successive losses, Javed said: “I have never played in the Bradford League top flight.

“I am a Huddersfield lad and have played in the Drakes League with my local club Birkby Rose Hill and then Rastrick, and it should be a challenge but I am looking forward to it.

“Championship Division One is a good standard but we did really well. Shahnwaz is 50-plus but looks like a 30-year-old and took 50 wickets and our overseas player Samir Ullah scored over 600 runs.”