Austerlands aces combine to stagger Saddleworth

CRICKET: HUMAYUN Farhat and Dave Oldfield shared 10 wickets and a vital ninth-wicket stand as visitors Austerlands ended Saddleworth’s 10-game winning streak in the Armstrongs Office Furniture Saddleworth and District Cricket League on Saturday.

The seamers claimed five for 77 and five for 51 respectively to check the home side’s pursuit of Uppermill at the top of the table.

Professional Farhat and Oldfield played their part with the bat, scoring a useful 60 and 46 respectively to lift Austerlands to 194 for nine after they had slumped to 127 for eight.

Saddleworth were dismissed for 140 and now trail Uppermill by 54 points.

Alex Griffiths’ high-flyers wasted no time – the match was all over at 4.15pm – in defeating Shaw by six wickets at Leefields.

Paid man Imran Aslam returned stunning figures of eight for 21 – the Pakistani all-rounder requires eight more wickets to reach 100 for the season – to send Andy Young’s side spiralling to 72 all out. Overseas amateur Jawad Haq, with 34, made nearly half of those runs.

Heyside got back on track after last weekend’s defeat by Saddleworth, thanks to a great effort from Stuart Moore.

Defending 162 against Hollinwood, the ex-Oldham bowler weighed in with six for 47 to help secure a 19-run win for the team in third place.

Hollinwood captain Mudassar Butt had earlier done a terrific job with the ball, taking seven for 70, but his efforts were in vain.

Alex Peters' Greenfield team – Jonathan Ainley has stood down as captain – gave Bamford Fieldhouse a fright on the eve of their Tanner Cup semi-final clash.

They restricted the hosts to 148 for nine at Hollin Lane. Peter Roberts stood firm with an unbeaten 49, while Adam Hayes claimed four for 52.

Greenfield were 129 for four in reply and on course for victory, but Mel Austin came back into the attack and collected four wickets for six runs in 2.5 overs to nail an unlikely three-runs win. Overseas amateur Rahul Panta had earlier hit 47.

While Bamford are up to fourth, Glodwick’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s LCB Cup suffered another blow at Oakfield.

They restricted Stayley to 154, but six wickets from overseas amateur Adnan Farooq and pro JP Lee’s four left the Warren Lane outfit high and dry on 145.

Mark Whitehead made 57 for Glodwick, who last tasted victory in the league on June 18.

Bottom team Moorside cannot buy a win at present and went down by 72 runs at Droylsden, who were dismissed for 159.