HAWORTH Road Meths gave signs of better things to come in the Timothy Taylor’s Craven League with an 83-run victory over Haworth, who finished two places above them last season.

Meths, seventh in 2023, won the toss at West Lane and made 215-5, opener Asad Rashid making a noteworthy 108 off 115 deliveries.

Goher Ayoub then helped to mop up Haworth’s innings for 132 by taking 4-20.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Eldwick & Gilstead must have been optimistic during the tea interval of their game.

They had dismissed hosts Riddlesden for 95 in a battle of landlords and tenants at Grange Road, Sunil Yadav leading the bowling honours with 4-16.

However, E&G were then dismissed for 89, Matthew Sharp top-scoring with 24 on a day when only three colleagues also reached double figures.

Two of them were last pair Jordan Bayliss (13 not out) and Bhushan Desai (10), who added 23 to make Riddlesden nervous.

Wilsden made a similar score at home to Hepworth & Idle, scoring 100 after they won the toss and batted.

Pete Longley (22) and Sikander Mahmood (21) were the only players to make an impression, and the visitors won by six wickets in the 21st over after Ryan Welsh made 45 and keeper Luke Harland 23 not out.

Bowling Baptists seem to have adapted quickly to life in Division Two after winning promotion and made 212-8 at relegated Sutton after winning the toss.

Raees Ishtiaq dominated the innings with 86 not out at No.3, putting on 83 for the seventh wicket with his brother Omair (34no) as the innings recovered from 94-6.

Sutton could only score 102 in reply as the wickets were shared between Shahbaz Ishaq (3-36), Muhammad Zulfiqar Khan (3-29), Sohail Butt (2-8) and Muneeb Rashid (2-7).

Hepworth & Idle II had a day to forget at home to Cononley, who made 229 after winning the toss, with Muhammad Abdullah (4-60) and Daniel Moore (4-32) the bowling stars.

The Westfield Laners were then rolled over for 46 inside 20 overs, despite 24 from opener and skipper James Bentley.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: James Bentley (right) had a day to forget in charge of Hepworth & Idle II, despite his own decent individual performance.James Bentley (right) had a day to forget in charge of Hepworth & Idle II, despite his own decent individual performance. (Image: Richard Leach.)

In Division Three, Bingley Congs III won the groundshare battle with Bradford & Bingley III at Sandy Lane.

Bingley won the toss, but their highest scorer was Shahbaz Ahmed with 16 in their meagre total of 61, with Shahid Mahmood taking 4-22 and Ali Asghar 4-22.

Congs were themselves 29-4 but lost no further wickets, Muhammad Haseeb Khan making 29 not out as they won in the 21st over.

Wilsden II were no match for Gargrave II at Skipton Road, being dismissed for 101 after winning the toss, despite being 78-2 after Tanveer Hussain (42) had got them off to a bright start.

Gargrave were 26-2 after tea, but the visitors could take only one more wicket as the home side won in the 26th over.

Bowling Baptists II, buoyed by a string of well-coached teenagers, defeated visitors Glusburn II by 68 runs.

The hosts were given a great start after winning the toss by Usman Ahmed (69) and Zar Ali (41), and Armaan Mahmood (37) continued the good work as they ended on 199-7.

Glusburn had six men in double figures but could only make 134, Simon Frost retiring on 37 after hitting the ball into his face.

Baptists bowler Shazaid Yousaf led from the front with 4-19, while Khalid Mahmood took 3-30.

Hepworth & Idle III had a notable victory against Menston V, with the latter dismissed for only 78 as Finley Matthews (3-9) and Zach Holland (4-19) ran riot with the ball.

Gary Wilkinson then made 50 opening the batting, while new signing Yvonne Baines scored 18 not out as the third strings won by seven wickets in the 27th over.