Match Report – 23rd August 2020

A busy week as the first session of the junior setup got underway, Whiterose Cricket Club led by Nadeem and supported by Farakh and his team of coaches made the cricketing community proud to support the aim of increasing participation in Bradford for all communities and for the young people to be given the opportunity to consider cricket as a sport to take up. The purpose of the project is to create more cricketers in the district of Bradford to support the senior game. There a number of clubs that are playing an excellent role in promoting junior cricket around Bradford particularly for the South Asian community, Whiterose Cricket Club inconjunction with the league and NACC main objective is to increase the number of young cricketers from the community which can only improve the amateur senior game in the district.

Last Thursday, we had over 30 young boys and girls taking part in the first session which was split onto three groups, by age and ability in a Covid safe environment. The final two session will take place this Tuesday and Thursday between 12.00 – 2.00pm – Come and join us at Park Avenue, Canterbury Avenue (Next to Better Gym), Bradford or for more information contact Nadeem or Farakh. All you need to bring is a bottle of water and wear trainers.

The Executive League Officer has been contacted by a number of clubs who have expressed an interest to join the league, currently we have at least 4 vacancies but will consider upto 8 new clubs. The committee will meet during this week to consider succession planning as well as new club members. Further details will be made available after the meeting has taken place.

Another day of disappointment for a small number of clubs who were frustrated by the isloated rain of the past few days and during today but nothing on the scale of last week. Clearly the impact of the new point system had an affect on today’s matches and clubs patiently waited until the grounds were fit to play or waited in between the shower spells. The innings totals in most matches highlighted the difficult batting condition due to the saturated ground.

Once again some interesting results at the top of the Premier Section as all top three team dropped points today whilst the teams in mid table all won and the race for the league inauguration season becomes wide open once again. Wouldn’t like to predicted the winner but most likely will go to the last fixtures to decide the league champion as the new points system has a positive affect on the result of the games.

Whiterose hosted Kashmir at Park Avenue today, they were bowled out cheaply for just 138, an outstanding performance from Leigh Beaumont (4 for 27) with the ball helped his club restrict the home side to an under par score. The batting condition also didn’t suit Kashmir who were bowled out for just 110 which lifted Whiterose out of the bottom half of the table.

Karmand have been renowned for upsetting the big clubs during the season but struggled to gain maximum points today as they lost to Bradford Moor, Karmand batted first and only managed 145 for 4 with top score from in form Asif Ayub (74) who scored more than half of the total team score. Bradford Moor beat Karmand by 6 wickets, performance with the bat from young Mustafa Rafique (60) and Arjun Ramkumar (46) helped Bradford Moor move out of the relegation zone.

Diamond continue to surprise as they move into second place and have now become one of seven clubs chasing the championship title. The game was reduced to 25 overs, Diamond batted first and scored 162 for 7, Shazad Khalid’s (45) performance with the bat put on a defendable total on the board. Darulshafa chased well but feel 19 runs short leaving them frustrated once again, getting so close but not crossing the line.

Bhalot Strikers had a comfortable win over Central Leeds, Bhalot set a target of 203 with the loss of 6 wickets, Qaisar Hameed (46) helped his club gain maximum batting point. Some good bowling for Navid Once restricted Bhalot’s total. Once again the accurate and consistent bowling of Aqsad Ali restricted Central Leeds to just 94.

The game between AK Eagles and Flix was not completed due to a waterlogged pitch, which didn’t help both teams. Flix now remain in the relegation zone whilst the results of total at the top of the table still give AK Eagles a good chance for the championship title.

Heaton Park dropped a point as they hosted Mylahore Senior at Rawdon Meadows. Mylahore batted the allocated 35 overs and were restricted to 91 for 9, Manzar Naqvi was the only batter to score freely in returned Heaton Park chased the total with the loss of just 1 wicket with Mohammed Bilal unbeaten 60 they claimed maximum batting points.

The other game in the Star Section was played between Friends and Mylahore Tab A, Friends batted first and were all bowled out for 115, Shoaib Baig outstanding figures of 5 for 29 gave the away team a hope of a win with the assistance of young Asif Yousaf (62no) with the bat as Mylahore Tabs A chased Friends total with 5 wickets to spare.

The low scoring game in the Star Section was between Subhan and Punjab at Gildersome, The game had every bit of the excitement as both clubs were chasing the top two spots for the chance of the play offs, Punjab were bowled out of just 67, an excellent spell with the ball from Irfan Maqsood (5 for 11) restricted the away team but the skipper of Punjab, Abdul Aqeel had other plans as his figure of 6 for 12 helped bowl Subhan out for just 61 runs, falling 6 runs short of the target.

Unlike the Star Section the Crescent section will go to the final league fixtures before the play offs. Kings XI Lahore had a comfortable win in a rain affected game at Shadwell. Mylahore Tabs B had to come of three times before they were all bowled out in the 25th overs for 73 runs. Kings XI Lahore chased the score with the loss of just 1 wicket giving them well needed batting points.

Khan remain the dominated side in their respective table and maintain their 100% as they beat Indus Bradford by 42 runs at Woodhouse CC. With this win they now take first place in the Crescent Section with a game left to play, will Northcliffe upset them next week. Khan elected to bat first and set a target of 184 losing 9 of their wickets, performance with the bat from Bilal Hussain (42) helped his club to a strong position. In form batsman Hazrat Zaman 83 wasn’t enough to help his club chase the target of 184 as Indus fell short. The swing bowling of Mohammed Shoaib was too much for Indus as he ended up with figures of 6 for 34 to help his side secure maximum points..

After a good start in the season for Kings XI today defeat at Burton Salmon against Rising Star so the end of their chances to play in the play offs, Kings XI lost to Rsings Star by 128 runs, Rising Star elected to bat on home soil and scored 203 for the loss of just 5 wickets, batting performance from Anas Imtiaz (55), Hasnain Mughal (47) and Mohammed Ijaz (45) secure a comfortable win in today’s match. Man of the Match Hasnain Mughal also took 5 wicket for just 12 runs and now depend on next weeks result to determine if they secure 2nd place above Kings XI lahore.

The close win of the day in a reduced overs match was between Northcliffe and Yorkshire Lions played at Westwood. Northcliffe elected to bat first and were all bowled out for 132 in the 26th over, Abid Ali (61) was the only batsman to provide some resistance to Yorkshire Lions bowling. The game went to the final over and the unbeaten contribution from Bilal Shahid for Yorkshire Lions was critical to secure a win over Northcliffe.