Aire-Wharfe League: '˜Shaw relegated from the top flight

After a season of struggle and 10 games without a victory, reigning Airedale & Wharfedale League champions Beckwithshaw were relegated from the top-flight on Saturday.
Beckwithshaw CC.Beckwithshaw CC.
Beckwithshaw CC.

Ross Sedgley’s men have struggled in the wake of the departure of several key members of their 2017 title-winning team, including influential skipper Alex Lilley.

They managed to record three successes during the first half of the campaign but haven’t won a Division One fixture since June 23.

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Their most recent loss came after they once again failed to put enough runs on the board, this time against title-chasing Otley.

Joe Holderness made 25 at the top of the order, but that was as good as it got for ‘Shaw who were all out for 132.

Otley needed just 15.4 overs to knock the runs off, reaching their victory target for the loss of only two wickets.

Elsehwere, Turseif Arshad produced an exceptional display of bowling to help Bilton get the better of Ilkley.

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Ryan Bradshaw’s troops looked in real trouble at 90/7 batting first, but David Hardcastle’s vital knock of 49 got them to 168 all out and gave them some kind of a total to defend.

In the end, that score was to prove more than sufficient thanks to the efforts of Arshad who was in unplayable form and finished up with a stunning return of 8-33, getting rid of Ilkley for 132.

Follifoot were unable to secure a third successive win, going down by 91 runs at North Leeds.

The home team posted 239/9 despite three scalps apiece for Istikhar Hussain and Yasar Ali.

Opener Nick Robinson hit 32 from just 33 balls to get Folllifoot off to a decent start in response, but they quickly fell away and were eventually bowled out on 148.