Cleckheaton beat Bradford & Bingley to climb off bottom

After bowling out their opponents for 112, Cleckheaton were set a Duckworth Lewis Stern target of 100 from 29 overs, which they knocked off with four overs to spare.

The win owed much to the efforts of their opening bowlers Iain Wardlaw (5-56) and Harvey Booth (5-46).

Opener Kris Ward made 26 and Booth 22 as Cleckheaton eased to a win which lifted them out of the relegation positions and pushed Wrenthorpe and Batley into the bottom two.

Much of the attention early in the afternoon was centred on Townville, where David Stiff took a hat-trick in his second over as Hanging Heaton bowled out the home side for just 67 in 19 overs after putting them in to bat.

Having already dismissed Townville’s overseas player Athelbert Braithwaite for a duck with his fifth ball of the match, Stiff followed up by claiming the wickets of Harry Warwick, Jack Hughes, and Harry Clewett with successive balls.

He went on to finish with 5-33 while his new ball partner James Byrne took 4-28 as Townville’s batting crumbled. Opener Jonny Booth carried his bat for 31 but lacked support.

Hanging Heaton’s hopes of sealing victory were drowned out by the weather when they had reached 20-3 after 11.4 overs. Their match was one of five in the top flight to fall victim of the weather.

The eight points Hanging Heaton secured did at least let them climb above Pudsey St Lawrence into fourth place and reduced the gap between themselves and leaders New Farnley to 10 points. New Farnley were making good progress at 52-1 in 11 overs before play was abandoned.

Only seven overs play was possible at Tofts Road where St Lawrence had reduced struggling Batley to 14-2 before the rain struck and at Scatcherd Lane where Morley slipped to 12-2 against Methley. There were just four overs bowled at Albert Terrace as Farsley scored 8-0 against second-placed Woodlands.

Birstall seized their chance to take over the Division One leadership as they defeated Bankfoot by 49 runs in the only game to get completed.

Batting first, they made 233-3 in 39 overs, with their openers Eric Austin (76) and Josh Haynes (69) giving their side a good start with a stand of 121.

Bankfoot lost skipper James Lee with just one run on the board but overseas player Azeem Ghumman was soon into his stride on his Bradford League debut.

He top scored with 58 and Seif Hussain made 41, but Bankfoot were dismissed for 184 in defeat.

Junaid Delair cashed in as Bankfoot sacrificed wickets in pursuit of runs as he finished with 5-45 on a day when the 20 points Birstall picked up took them 13 clear at the top.

Gomersal, who started the day as leaders, were struggling at 27-2 against Undercliffe when their match was brought to an early end, while Ossett had started well and were 53-0 against unbeaten East Bierley when the rain struck.

Bottom team Carlton were 55-2 after 13 overs against Keighley while Baildon were struggling at 37-3 against Hartshead Moor when their matches were abandoned.

Lightcliffe’s hopes of forcing victory in their rain-affected game with Pudsey Congs were eventually washed away.

They made 128-9 in 32 overs with opener Alex Stead leading the way with 53. Vinit Patel (4-46) was the pick of the bowlers for Pudsey Congs, who were 44-3 after nine overs when the end came.

Play got underway in every Division Two game, but all were abandoned after the rain intervened.

Leaders Jer Lane were 33-0 in pursuit of 151 from 31 overs when their clash with Hopton Mills was abandoned.

An unbeaten 40 from Andy Grey was the main feature of the Hopton Mills total of 150-8, while Amjid Khan (3-47) was the best of the Jer Lane bowlers.

East Ardsley made 188-4 in 30 overs as they looked to force victory against Sandal to strengthen their promotion challenge.

Opener Josh Wild hit four sixes and 15 fours while making 97 while his opening partner Jonathan McGregor scored 45.

Sandal made a brisk start and were 61-0 after nine over thanks largely to Karl Hewitt’s unbeaten 46, but the prospect of an interesting finish was washed out.

Skipper Bilal Ejaz (47no) and Amjid Tariq (42no) were going well as struggling Spen Victoria reached 114-3 at Northowram Fields before the rain came.

One team relieved to see the rain were Hunslet Nelson. They were 56-8 against Wakefield St Michael’s when play was abandoned.

Gulsheraz Ahmed (42no) was propping up Yeadon’s innings at Scholes as they slipped to 79-4, while just 12 overs were possible as Bowling Old Lane reached 18-1 against Buttershaw St Paul’s.

It was a similar story in Division Three with every game abandoned after play had got underway.

The most action was witnessed at Altofts where promotion-chasing Brighouse made 194-6 in 41.4 overs before the rain swept in.

In-form Parvaise Khan (39), Shahzaib Khan (38), Khurram Maqsood (33) and Wajid Hussain (31) all made useful contributions.

The 17.5 overs played at Crossflatts was the most play witnessed in the remaining five games. Visitors Adwalton were 54-4 when play was abandoned, while Crossbank Methodists were 40-1 after 17 overs against Great Preston.

Leaders East Leeds were 47-2 after 13 overs against Rodley and they were happy to end the day six points ahead of Brighouse.

Gildersome & Farnley Hill made 36-1 in 8.5 overs against Heckmondwike & Carlinghow while Windhill & Daisy Hill were 29-0 after five overs against Liversedge.