Cross and Mahmood help East Bierley to get off the mark at last
Bottom side East Bierley were celebrating after recording their first victory of the season in Division One of the Bradford Cricket League.
An 121-run win over Ossett gave hope that the team can enjoy a better second half of the season and climb out of the relegation places.
They remain 11 points adrift of Batley at the bottom and are 36 points behind Crossflatts so more wins are certainly required.
But it was a much improved display against Ossett as half centuries from Danny Cross and Mahleb Mahmood helped them to a more than decent 254-9 total then they bowled their opponents out for 133.
Cross hit 61 from 59 balls, including 10 fours and a six, while Mahmood’s unbeaten 53 came from 73 deliveries. Farakh Hussain also contributed 34, Adam Brown 31 and Hamza Saeed 21.
Ossett were quickly reduced to 40-5 in their reply and although skipper James Keen battled to an unbeaten 58 they finished well short of their target with Bierley’s leading light this year, Asad Raza – the division’s leading wicket taker – taking 4-53 and Abdullah Khan 3-5.
Hanging Heaton improved their promotion chances in Division One with a seven-wicket win over Batley.
Bradley Wood led the way with an unbeaten 72 as they chased down a DLS target of 158 after rain shortened their local derby. Christodoulos Bogdanos also contributed 31.
Hasan Ahmad (60), Aadam Hussain (33) and Mohammed Bhoola (31) were the top scorers in Batley’s 188 while Heaton’s best bowlers were Upul Indrasiri (3-39) and Zahir Abbas (3-50).
Fifth-placed Birstall beat Lightcliffe by four wickets as they did well to chase down their opponents’ 252-9.
Daniel Marlow (5-69) did most to restrict Lightcliffe to 252-9 before Birstall replied confidently, with Shabir Rashid making 59 at the top of the order and Nick Kaye guiding the team home with an unbeaten 54.
With Brad Lay also hitting 35, Sharoon Siraj 34 and Marlow 23no they reached their target with more than six overs remaining.
Premier leaders Woodlands were held up for a time by rain, but there was enough play for them to defeat Jer Lane by 26 runs on the DLS system as they bagged another 16 valuable points.
They are 11 points clear at the top with second-placed Townville also winning and are 17 ahead of reigning champions New Farnley who had their match at Bradford & Bingley abandoned.
After a delayed start Woodlands made 199-8 in the 40 overs available against Jer Lane as Brad Schmulian hit 55, Tim Jackson 33 and Elliot Richardson 32no.
Jer Lane’s innings came to a halt after 20 overs, but as they stood on 79-4 they lost by 26 runs on DLS.
Crossbank Methodists won by six wickets in a rain reduced Division Three contest with Heckmondwike & Carlinghow.
Asif Amir (31no) and Faizan Haider (26) led their response as they reached 119-4 in 23.3 overs after Heckmondwike had made 209 from 49 overs with Qamar Shahzad hitting 44no and Sadaqat Zaman 42.
Best bowlers for Crossbank were Kabeer Hussain (3-31) and Adam Zahid (3-36).