Mahmood shows way for Brighouse

They piled up 305-7 against Spen Victoria in the battle of Championship Two’s bottom pair and then restricted their opponents to 160-7.

Asad Mahmood (86), Sohail Hussain (62) and Samir Farooq (52no) enjoyed themselves with the bat at Russell Way.

Mohammad Abrar then took 3-14 with skipper George Deegan (34) the main stumbling block as the visitors dug in with a lofty target always out of reach.

Northowram Fields never recovered from being 28 for five at home to Idle and lost by eight wickets.

Skipper John Lister (67) and Shakeel Mahmood (46) shared a sixth-wicket stand of 111 in an effort to repair the damage but a score of 170 was below par, Salman Khan (7-44) doing the damage.

An attack lacking Zafar Khan and Ashton Richardson made little impact against left-handed opener Abdul Qader (75 no) and Arbaab Hussain (62), the pair adding 117 for the second wicket.

Lightcliffe’s poor run in the Premier Division continued with a five-wicket defeat at relegation-threatened Batley.

Skipper Matt Baxter hit 45 and Kashif Naveed 30 but the Halifax side were rolled over for 109 by Muhammad Shahnawaz (6-16).

Opener Sufyan Patel (39) and Kashif Talib (31no) ensured the hosts clinched victory.

Todmorden’s hopes of Lancashire League glory appear to be fading after a 56-run home defeat at home to Darwen.

They were arguably favourites to take yesterday’s spoils when skipper Andrew Sutcliffe (3-31) and spinner Hamza Ali (3-55) had the visitors 152 for nine but last pair Reece Davies (39 no) and Chris Wade (10 no) added 52 to lift the total to 204-9. John Cordingley top scored with 53.

Todmorden’s batting was again found wanting. Ben Pearson batted through with an unbeaten 51 from 120 balls but Tod slumped to 78 for six and Freddie Priestley’s 30 down the order could only help them to 148.

Darwen went above the Centre Vale men into second and the sides meet again on Bank Holiday Monday in the league T20 semi-finals at Darwen when Tod will be looking to avoid a fifth defeat of the season to their hosts in all competitions.

Umesh Karunaratne turned in a superb performance as Walsden stayed on track to repeat last year’s Pennine League title success with a six-wicket win over visitors Crompton yesterday.

The Sri Lankan took five for 32, including the wicket of top-scoring opener Sam Rigby for 59 and pro Akbar Rehman for 10.

He received strong backing from Joe Gale (four for 29) as Crompton were all out for 135, having elected to make first use of the Scott Street strip.

Walsden were 31 for three in reply but Karunaratne slammed 84 not out off 43 balls. James Rawlinson, who made four off 31 balls, was the only other batsman to depart with the score on 75.

Norden stay six points behind after bowling out Littleborough for 141 in reply to their 246 for two.

Barkisland’s relegation after five years in the Huddersfield League’s top flight was confirmed by a five-wicket defeat at home to Cawthorne.

Darren Robinson’s side made 217 for nine but that was overhauled by their mid-table visitors.

Jake Finch (63) and Jamie Summerscales (50) fared best with the bat for Barkisland but openers Ayrton Dehmel (94) and Ben Simpson (66) took Cawthorne most of the way to victory before the home bowlers made an impression.

Rastrick have lost their position of strength at the top of the Championship, following up their one-run defeat at Elland with a six-wicket loss in their crunch game at home to Shelley.

The Round Hill men, now without overseas ace Asif Afridi, totalled 176 and Shelley knocked off the runs for the loss of four wickets.

Faisal Javed hit 65 but his teammates struggled against Nick Sharp (6-47). Joe Sykes (54no) wrapped up victory for Shelley.

The pair are now locked together on 90 points with Mirfield Parish Cavaliers two behind and two rounds of fixtures left.

Elland slipped a place to fifth when they were all out for 120 and hosts Clayton West completed a four-wicket win.