There was only one small consolation for Baildon after their frustrating one-wicket home defeat against Pudsey Congs.

The six bonus points they gained was enough to lift them off the bottom of the JCT600 Bradford League Division One table, a place now occupied by Gomersal.

It has been a disappointing season for the 2009 champions but skipper Craig Hitchenor remains upbeat, believing his team are playing better cricket than a bottom-two side.

He said: “The main problem is our Sri Lankan fast bowler has not arrived. With an overseas bowler in our side we would be a useful team.”

The club have asked Shipley MP Philip Davies to help to sort the administration problems but know that time is running out.

An absorbing match ended with Congs edging home thanks to a last-wicket stand of 38 between Alex Hewitt and overseas pace bowler Mohammed Naved.

Baildon must have thought they had the game in the bag after reducing the defending champions to 119-9 in reply to their disappointing 156.

The home side paid the price for giving Congs an extra eight overs to reach what looked like a modest target and the visitors needed six of those extra overs.

How Baildon will regret that and also their extraordinary batting collapse.

Openers Jonathan Reynolds (54) and Simon Webb (32) put on 92 in just over 25 overs but they then lost nine wickets for 34 runs and it needed a last-wicket stand of 30 between Mubasher Khan (24) and Hitchenor to lift the score to 156.

Naved made the breakthrough, dismissing both openers to finish with 3-30, while off-spinner Ed Walmsley, a close season signing from Cleckheaton, destroyed the middle order with an impressive 5-33.

Congs began confidently but once Mark Gill was trapped lbw by Hitchenor, wickets fell steadily and the game swung Baildon’s way when slow left-armer Mushtaq Ahmed joined the attack.

Mushtaq, who finished with 3-24 in 15 accurate overs, dismissed Andy Siddall and Eugene Burzler in successive balls as Congs lost four wickets for 11 runs.

Hitchenor and Richard Atkins took three wickets each but once they had completed their allocation, the Baildon captain was forced to turn to part-time bowlers Tabbi Bhatti and Ahsan Butt. Hewitt and Naved played them well as they guided Congs home with two overs to spare.

Hitchenor said: “It was really disappointing. Once Mushtaq, Richard Atkins and I had finished our spells we were looking at our part-time bowlers to finish the job and, as well as we tried, we couldn’t get over the line. We also paid the price for not batting out our overs.”

Bairstow, who made a big contribution to the win with a disciplined 29, said: “The eight overs they gave us were crucial and I thought Alex Hewitt and Naved played very well – they showed the top order how to bat.

“We stuck to our task well, showing a lot of spirit and fight to set up a good win.”