Lees hits 38 in Lightcliffe defeat

Alex Lees was unable to repeat his earlier heroics as Lightcliffe crashed to 122-run defeat away to Bradford & Bingley in the Bradford League's top flight.
Alex Lees.
Yorkshire v Surrey.  County Championship Day 2.
27 June 2017.  Picture Bruce RollinsonAlex Lees.
Yorkshire v Surrey.  County Championship Day 2.
27 June 2017.  Picture Bruce Rollinson
Alex Lees. Yorkshire v Surrey. County Championship Day 2. 27 June 2017. Picture Bruce Rollinson

The Yorkshire CCC opener, who is from Halifax, had hit a league record 227 not out in his previous appearance for the Wakefield Road men this season, at home to yesterday’s opponents.

However, this time he was dismissed by paceman Jack Hartley for 38 as the visitors mustered only 112 in reply to Bradford & Bingley’s 234 for nine.

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Lees and Alex Stead (14) put on 43 for the first wicket but Kashif Naveed (22) was the only other to make double figures as spinner Noman Ali took four for 13.

Earlier, Rob Burton (and Daanyaal Ahmed had each taken three wickets as the home side rallied from 58 for four with a strong middle order effort.

Brighouse notched a third consecutive win, and their second in a row by the minimum one-wicket margin, with success in the Calderdale derby at Northowram Fields.

The home side, depleted by skipper Jon Lister’s stag trip to Marbella, would have won but for an astonishing innings from visiting number nine Asad Mahmood.

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He crashed 82 from 59 balls and was dropped behind the wicket the ball before hitting the winning six.

Earlier, Northowram had totalled 201 for nine with Ashton Richardson’s 50 the top score.

Zafar Khan then took six for 55 but with Richardson the home side’s only other regular first team bowler present, Sohail Hussain (55) and Mahmood took advantage.

Barkisland are 16 points adrift at the foot of the Huddersfield League’s Premiership and seemingly heading for the Championship after an eight-wicket defeat at Scholes yesterday.

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Jake Finch made an excellent 82 to help the visitors to 206, Luke Bridges (29) and Alex Scholefield (28) also chipping in.

However, their bowling attack was toothless as the Sykes Cup finalists cruised to their target with 86 not out from Joe Carter and 42 from West Indies Test batsman Devon Smith.

Rastrick could be replacing Barkisland in the top flight. They are six points clear in the Championship after a battling three-wicket home success over an Almondbury Wesleyans side which also has promotion aspirations.

Late-arriving overseas player Asif Afridi has been making up for lost time in excellent fashion.

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He took five for 21 to restrict Wesleyans to 155 and followed up with 51 before James Anderson made a crucial 31 not out to see the Round Hill men to the winning post.

Elland strengthened their position in mid-table with a convincing 105 run win over lowly Kirkheaton at Hullen Edge.

The hosts made 189 with 80 from opener Liam Fletcher and 42 from Ben Speak.

Alastair Finn (3-10) and Tom Thornton (3-16) helped Elland rip through Kirkheaton ranks. The visitors were dismissed for 84.

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Todmorden confirmed their superiority over a Rishton side they had beaten in the Lancashire League’s Twenty/20 quarter finals eight days earlier.

Andrew Sutcliffe’s fourth-placed team timed their run chase to perfection, overhauling their visitors’ 214 for seven with five wickets but only two balls to spare.

Veteran Pakistani Saeed Anwar gave them most to think about. The 48-year-old, who played 55 Tests for his country, came in as a sub professional for his former club and made 119 of the visitors’ runs.

Graham Lalor took three for 40 for Todmorden.

Ben Pearson was the star of Tod’s successful reply. The youngster made a career best 79 at the top of the order and was third out with the total on 170, having shared in stands of 65 with Simon Newbitt (27), 72 with pro Kelly Smuts (38) and 33 with Ben Sutcliffe (17).

Elliott Gilford (21 not out) and Kristian Garland (14 not out) showed cool heads to clinch victory with an unbroken stand of 36.