Bradford Cricket League: Ossett blown away by champions but big wins for East Ardsley and Sandal

Bilal’s burst of 7-20 helped the reigning champions to a 156-run win that took them 30 points clear at the top and left Ossett nervously looking over the shoulders as they are only a point ahead of the drop zone.

With rain around again Ossett were set a DLS target of 212 from 32 overs and never looked like getting close as Bilal and Tom Clee (3-30) combined to bowl them out for 55 in just 16.3 overs.

Seven of the batsmen were bowled while the remaining three were out lbw. Matthew Race (22) and James Wade (21no) were the only two to reach double figures.

Woodlands had made 186-4 in their rain interrupted innings with Brad Schmulian (87) and Tom Jackson (54) sharing a stand of 134 for the second wicket and James Wade taking 2-44.

East Ardsley came out on top in a tight finish toearn precious points in their relegation fight in Division One.

Opener Josh Wild gave them a fast start against Yeadon with a knock of 51 from 58 balls and Suraj Singh (46), Oliver Appleyard (40), James Van Der Merwe (21) and Gary Jennings (20no) also weighed in with useful efforts as a score of 200-4 in 44 overs was posted.

Rain resulted in Yeadon being set a target of 201 in 32 overs and they got close, but fell six runs short, ending on 194-9 with Zeeshan Haider (5-54) doing most to restrict them.

Carlton had to settle for a tie in their Division One game against Birstall when Jaymish Patel hit two runs from the final ball.

Birstall had been set a revised target of 221 in 38 overs and kept in touch, but in scrambling two off the last delivery they ended on 220-8 with Rishi Limbechaya (63) top scoring and Sana Khan taking 3-65.

Carlton were looking good to post a big score in their innings when reaching 195-2 in 38.3 overs before the weather curtailed it. Daniel Ford was not out on 69, while Steve Cooper hit 59 and Dan White 53.

Improving Sandal beat third-placed Morley with a good effort in the field.

Morley were dismissed for 178 as they chased 191 in 37 overs with Michael Carroll taking 4-62 and two wickets each for Kasun Madushanka and Zaeem Zulfqar.

Sandal reached 177-8 in 37 overs after opener Ashley Mackereth smashed seven sixes and six fours in an aggressive 43-ball knock of 71 and Sohail Hussain chipped in with 36.

Bottom of the table Wrenthorpe went down by three wickets to Keighley in Division Two.

Despite 3-43 from Hassan Abbas and 3-45 by Shakrukh Ali, Keighley reached their DLS 169 in 39 target with 3.1 overs to spare.

Skipper Mustafa Bhatti (62) and Abbas (41) were top scorers in Wrenthorpe’s innings of 156-7 from 39 overs.

Last wicket pair Amjad Ali (23no) and Waheed Ahmed (21no) helped Wakefield St Michael’s to pull off what looked an unlikely victory when they were on 84-9 chasing a 122 target against East Leeds in Division Three.

An unbroken stand of 39 for the final wicket saw the Wakefield team achieve a one-wicket win that kept them in the top six. Cavan Connolly (22) also made vital late runs.

Connolly had earlier taken 3-30 while Syed Bukhari claimed 5-35 as East Leeds were dismissed for 123.