WARLEY’S superb run in the Halifax League’s Parish Cup has continued to the final as they defeated Illingworth St Mary’s by five wickets at Paradise Lane.

St Mary’s won the toss and, unsurprisingly in the hot conditions, opted to bat.

They lost early wickets and were 34-3 and 50-4 before Josh Cooper turned the innings around, hitting 101 in 76 balls that included nine fours and six sixes.

He was dismissed at 179-7, and the tail provided a further 25 runs to take the score to 204.

Cooper’s dismissal by Chris Atkinson (2-17), and the fact that St Mary’s only used 36.3 overs, was to prove pivotal.

Warley’s response was timed to perfection.

Atkinson (38) and Gareth Standeven (59) set the ball rolling with an excellent 82-run first-wicket partnership.

Then, despite losing two wickets for four runs, the momentum was continued by Connor Mitchell (45no) and James Whitworth (27).

Faheem Khatana joined Mitchell and hit all of the remaining 11 runs to propel the score to 209-5, and Warley into the cup final with 21 balls remaining.

The second semi-final turned out to be a surprisingly low scoring affair at Moderna Way as Mytholmroyd defeated Luddendenfoot by 24 runs.

The Foot won the toss and, in a surprising move, inserted the home team.

However, it looked as though it was a good decision when they were 11-2.

Further wickets fell at regular intervals and, with the score at 76-7, the Foot were in the ascendancy.

Shoaib Hassan then came to Royd’s rescue with a well-worked 52, which was later to prove vital.

He was last out with the score at 137, and it was no doubt a total that the Foot would have settled for at 1pm, with six of their bowlers sharing the wickets.

By a weird coincidence, the visitors’ reply followed much the same pattern as the first innings, so much so that the scoreboard showed 77-7.

But there was no Hassan to rescue this innings, and with the ever-reliable Jack Earle taking 4-23 and player-of-the-match Hassan 3-33, it was Mytholmroyd who will meet Warley in the final at Blackley on Sunday, August 7 (1pm).

The Crossley Shield final a fortnight later at Southowram (1pm) will feature a new name on the trophy as Great Horton Park Chapel will face giant-killers Queensbury.

Second Division Queensbury beat three-times winners and current Premier Division champions Mytholmroyd by seven wickets in one semi-final.

Only two Royd batters caused Queensbury any consternation in what was a tight bowling display, led by Max Rawson (4-26 off nine overs).

Seven batters failed to reach double figures, with only Muhammad Hussain (42) and Junaid Rashid (36) producing any form with the willow as the visitors were dismissed for 122 in 30.3 overs.

If Queensbury’s tails were up at the tea interval, then less than 20 overs later reports of Queensbury stalwart Neil Myers dancing round Old Guy Road were not exaggerated.

The hosts simply took apart Royd’s bowling after being 18-2, with Bradley Gerrard-Harrison (25no), Zabir Ashraf (34) and Rawson (27no) taking Queensbury to 127-3 and an unexpected place in the final.

The other semi-final was a damp squib as Great Horton Park Chapel defeated visiting Low Moor Holy Trinity by a mammoth 175 runs.

Seven of Park Chapel’s top eight contributed decent scores in their 269-8 after they won the toss, with Ryan Frankland-Martin (52) and Joel Beaumont (40) leading the way as Trinity’s seven bowlers largely toiled in vain.

Low Moor were 72-2 when the dismissal of Sunny Kumar for 34 triggered a procession back to the pavilion, and they were all out for 94.

The last four wickets fell without addition, with Beaumont’s figures of 4-7 from 5.3 overs summing things up.