WILSDEN made 143 at home to Eldwick & Gilstead after being asked to bat in their Timothy Taylor’s Craven League Wynn Cup Group A encounter, and that proved to be just enough.

Opener Muhammad Qasim Hussain hit 35, while skipper Sam Mitchell chipped in with 28, but Matthew Sharp started off this season where he left off last by taking 4-11 from 7.3 very tidy overs.

Sharp then scored 27, adding 56 for the third wicket with Mihir Dighe (30), but Wilsden looked firm favourites when the twin villages were 103-9.

However, Jordan Bayliss (24) and Sunil Yadav (9) put on 39 for the last wicket before the former was dismissed by Owen Pacey (4-30) one run short of a tie and a Super Over conclusion.

Will Burgess very much played a lone hand for Haworth Road Meths at home to Bowling Baptists.

Meths’ No.3 scored 65 of their 103 all out, as Shahbaz Ishaq (4-13) took two wickets at the beginning and end of their innings.

The visitors from Scotchman Road did not find things easy either, but Ishaq made a man-of-the-match decision very easy by scoring 60 not out at No.5 to take Baptists to a three-wicket victory.

Hepworth & Idle won one of three high-scoring matches, defeating hosts Silsden by three wickets with 14 balls to spare in Group B.

Silsden made 213-5 after winning the toss, but the Westfield Laners had contributions all the way down the order during their successful chase.

Opener Tom Hawksworth (34) got the away side off to a good stuff, before Jonny Thompson struck a superb 67 off just 50 balls.

Tom Gadd then managed 32 further down the order, with keeper Luke Harland (19no) helping to see Hepworth & Idle home.

Wilsden was not the only venue for a tense finish, as there was also one at Gargrave in the John Clayton Cup, which is also played over a total of 80 overs.

Bowling Baptists II, sent in, could only manage 74, with Omair Ishtiaq (21) and Imran Muzafar (22) the only players to unduly trouble the scorers.

Harry McEneaney (20) was the only Gargrave II player to match them, but, despite that, they only finished a boundary short of victory, with Shazaid Yousaf returning outstanding figures of 3-5 in 7.2 overs, with his incredible hat-trick finishing things off.

Ishtiaq Raza took 5-16 as Baptists squeaked it, with Gargrave recovering well from 39-7.

Almost as exciting was Bradford & Bingley III’s clash at Skipton CI II, with the visitors posting 126-9 batting first.

CI II struggled chasing down that low target, but managed a two-wicket victory with eight balls to spare, despite Shahbaz Ahmed (4-25) taking a hat-trick.

Hepworth & Idle III could not build on opener Glen Moore’s 21 when they won the toss and batted at Glusburn II, as they collapsed from 57-3 to 64 all out.

The hosts took advantage of that dreadful batting display to win by seven wickets in the 18th over.

The Cowling Cup T20 competition was badly affected by the weather, with only two of the five matches starting.

One involved last year’s finalists Hepworth & Idle II, who dismissed 2023 beaten semi-finalists Cowling II for 97 at Westfield Lane, with Martin McCulley taking 3-3 and Muhammad Abdullah 3-25.

However, Cowling, who lost the toss, then dismissed the hosts for 67, with only those two aforementioned bowlers making double figures with the bat.

One of the matches to bite the dust was at Sandy Lane, where Bingley Congs III should have been facing Wilsden II.