Timby stars with bat as Yorkshire South Premier League leaders maintain two-point advantage

Collegiate cemented their position at the top with a fragmented, but strong win at near neighbours, struggling Whitley Hall.

Collegiate batted first and two early wickets for Liam Bacon put the brakes on.

County stars Billy Root (46) and Azeem Rafiq (42) put 85 on for the fourth wicket, and keeper Jack Timby added 52 from 54 balls to give the innings some impetus.

Callum Bethel, Richard Wilkinson and Greig Batty took two wickets each for Whitley Hall, as Collegiate were bowled out for 240 from the full 50 over allocation.

The home side’s reply never got going, with James Brown’s 15 at the top of the order the highlight. Robert Shaw (3-17) took out the top and middle order and the total of 68-8 in the 32nd over meant Whitley were well behind the statistical output of what was needed.

Rafiq took 2-21 to compliment his batting earlier in the day and Collegiate remained top.

Wakefield Thornes are still in second and just two points behind the Abbeydale side, after a similarly Duckworth-Lewis-Stern influenced win at Doncaster.

Thornes were asked to bat first and a season’s best 77 from David Toft, with excellent, contrasting, support from Qaisar Ashraf 50 from just 28 balls and a watchful 42 from opener Jared Warner took the score to 235-7.

James Stuart impressed for the home side with 4-66.

The host’s reply was in trouble at 82-4 after 24 overs, when rain swept the ground, and reduced the target to 175 off 32 overs – effectively 91 more runs off 8 overs.

Steve Morgan and Ashraf combined to take 3-52 and 4-39 respectively and Doncaster fell to 149 all out in the last over.

Wickersley remain in third but fell further behind the pacesetters at the top, losing to Treeton at Washfield Lane.

Wickersley invited the home side to bat first, and left arm spin twins Tom Knight and Mark Cummins kept a tight grip on the innings.

Sam Drury top scored with 52 and evergreen Steve Foster posted 39 off just 23 balls at the top of the innings, but with only one other double figure score, Treeton faltered to 168 all out and the visitors in charge at the break.

Iftikhar Afzal had other ideas, and alongside Muhammed Waheed reduced Wickersley to 76-5. Gareth Purshouse resisted with 27, but after his dismissal, only 22 wides and 22 from Mark Cummins made a contribution.

Rain had reduced the target to 153 from 44 overs, but this fell beyond Wickersley, who finished on 126-9. Afzaal finished with 4-37 taking Treeton to fourth thanks to Doncaster’s defeat.

Barnsley picked up their fourth win in five games with a very strong win over Hallam at Shaw Lane.

Robert Heyes picked up Boeta Beukes cheaply, but Jon Trower then combined spectacularly with Harpreet Bathia. The pair added 223 for the second wicket as the Hallam attack were plundered.

Trower finished with 108 and Bathia top scored with 121 both falling to Charlie Bourne who finished with 3-83. Eli Richards (39) and Stephen Walters (21) added 65 in quick time at the end of the innings to take Barnsley up to an imposing 328-4. Hallam clearly had to get on with it, but the risk of losing wickets was realised.

Dan Waldron picked up two early wickets but then spinners Ali Jahangir (3-24) and the returning Oliver Jackson (3-30) took over and resistance was met by only from Humphrey Emery (31) and Aditya Edekar (23) as Hallam fell away to 110 all out in the 32nd over and a 218 run win for Barnsley.

Whiston Parish Church’s season is falling away badly after a bright start, and their losing streak extended to six in a row, in a heavy defeat at Cleethorpes. Whiston elected to bat first, but their middle order struggled. Sajid Khan struck a solid 61 and Gareth Davis battled hard for 46, but there was little else to send a postcard home from the coast about. Jordan Cook took 3-45 but Alex Osmond (2-42) and Lee Charlton (2-27) were both miserly and Whiston reached 178-8 from 50 overs. In contrast, Cleethorpes scored freely in reply. Bill Kirby hit 56 from 93 balls but the star was Vusimuzi Sibanda who scored an undefeated 111 from just 82 balls as all Whiston’s bowlers felt the full force of his shots .Khan picked up the solitary wicket for Whiston finishing with 1-31, but Cleethorpes won inside 30 overs to move into seventh above Whiston, now in eighth place.

Finally, in the basement clash, Aston Hall eased to a good win at Appleby Frodingham, who had elected to bat first. Johannes Bothma reduced the start to 29-2 and then Adam Clarke (3-8) and Awais Zia (5-27) stole the show, with the hosts batting line up having little to show.

Matt Morland dug in for 33 from 84 balls but his was a lone effort as the target fell to just 95 all out. Despite some rain, Aston Hall reached their target for a must needed win in the 24th over. Jack Simmonite scored 41* for the Doves, and with Zia in a rush with 28 from 14 balls, Aston Halls secured a nine wicket win, taking them out of the bottom two, above Whitley Hall and their opponents from Saturday.

Match of the day this weekend sees leaders Collegiate welcome third placed Wickersley to Abbeydale, while Wakefield Thornes will expect a win over Whitley Hall, with mid table Hallam hosting Treeton.

Doncaster travel to Cleethorpes and Barnsley go to Aston hall looking to pick up a fourth straight win. Struggling Whiston will look to reverse their form with Appleby Frodingham travelling to Church Fields. All games start at midday.

STANDINGS (9 games) COLLEGIATE 100; Thornes 98; Wickersley 70; Treeton 60; Doncaster 58; Barnsley WM 54; HALLAM 48; Cleethorpes 44; Whiston 44; Aston Hall 42; WHITLEY HALL 36; Appleby Frodingham 24.