Seven-up Schmulian stars as Woodlands close gap on leaders New Farnley

With leaders New Farnley suffering a rare defeat against Farsley the value of the victory could be seen as Woodlands are now back to within 13 points of the top.

They were not at their best with the bat and looked in danger of defeat when bowled out for 182, but the captain stepped up to the mark in superb style to make sure Bradford & Bingley batsmen also struggled.

Schmulian returned his season’s best bowling figures of 7-40 as the visitors subsided from 52-1 to 131 all out. Chris Brice also weighed in with two wickets.

Woodlands’ innings had included a valuable half century from Sam Frankland (52) while Liam Collins contributed 33, Schmulian 24 and Muhammad Bilal 22.

In-form Yousaf Baber hit an impressive better than a run-a-ball 114 as Cleckheaton won their relegation battle at Bankfoot by 111 runs.

Baber hit 15 fours and two sixes and shared a third wicket stand of 112 with Richard Pyrah (67no). Toby Booth also chipped in with 39 and Kris Ward 23 in a 281-7 total.

Baber followed up by being Cleckheaton’s best bowler with 4-33 and with fellow spinner Amir Hussain also taking 3-40 as Bankfoot were all out for 170.

Despite the win, Cleckheaton remain second from bottom, but are just five points behind Bankfoot.

Bottom of the table Batley are also showing stomach for their fight as they produced a great run chase to beat Methley.

After their opponents posted a 244-5 total, Yasir Ali taking 3-67, they set about their task in fine style and went on to record a seven wicket win with a surprising 11 overs to spare.

Skipper Roheil Hussain paved the way with 51 runs from 41 balls at the top of the order, Raza Hassan hit 30 and the job was completed by all-rounder Yasir Ali (72no) and Kasir Maroof (60no) who both hit 10 fours and shared an unbroken match-winning stand of 99.

Batley remain bottom but are now just 12 adrift of Bankfoot.

Thornhill Trojans fade after battling first half display against leaders West Hull

Hanging Heaton remain fourth from bottom after losing by 66 runs to Pudsey St Lawrence.

They set off well as they had their opponents 18-3 then 46-4, but Archie Scott (90) and Harry Cullingford (57) helped Pudsey recover to post 208-7 despite Mustafa Rafique taking 4-70.

Heaton were reduced to 19-7 as their reply started disastrously. They kept fighting, however, with David Stiff hitting 56 and Callum Bethel 54no, but were all out for 142.

Division One leaders Jer Lane made it 12 wins from 12, but dropped their first points of the season when they played Birstall.

The table toppers produced another powerful batting display to pile up 382-8, but could not bowl Birstall out as their reply saw them make 220-7.

Eric Austin top scored with 76 as he hit 15 fours, while Andrew Robertson (63) found the boundary 10 times and the pair put on 120 for the second wicket. Skipper Nick Kaye hit 28no while Jaymish Patel (4-99) and Brad Lay (3-66) had earlier been Birstall’s best bowlers.

Overseas player Nisar Ahmad starred with 6-54 as East Bierley inflicted a 12th defeat of the season on bottom of the table Wrenthorpe.

Daniel Cross also took 2-47 as Wrenthorpe were bowled out for 154 to lose by 53 runs.

Alex Midgley’s unbeaten 51 and 48 by Paul Martin led the way in Bierley’s 207-9 total with Michael Flathers contributing 33 and Harvey Lockwood 30.

Gomersal’s decision to bat first did not work out as they lost by seven wickets to Undercliffe.

With spinner Jude Roberts taking 6-29, Gomersal were all out for 145 as only Jonathan Boynton (53) made much impact. Undercliffe eased to victory with opener Danish Hussain (58no) leading them home.