Unbeaten Wes looking for a top Cup scalp
IT’S the All Rounder Sykes Cup tomorrow and some fascinating ties are in prospect.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing will be at Kaye Lane, where Jedi Sports Championship leaders Almondbury Wesleyan take on Drakes Premiership side Mirfield Parish Cavaliers.
Wes are storming along in the Championship and are fresh from a 61-run win over Lepton Highlanders in which Matthew Henshaw hit 112, Tom Binns 83 and Frederick Walker 85 not out.
Asif Hussain replied with 153 for Lepton, but they fell well short of the 337-6 target.
Former Scholes bowler Jack Atkinson took out three of the top order while Ashley Smith and young Ben Shufflebotham took a couple of wickets apiece.
So the Wes may fancy pitting their unbeaten record against that of Parish, who are second bottom of the Premiership in their debut top-flight campaign.
Parish, under Tim Orrell, have scored wins over Kirkburton and Cawthorne in the league this season, but they are second-bottom of the table after seven matches and will be desperate to reach the third round of the Cup.
Three of Wes’s second-tier rivals are also at home tomorrow.
Mid-table Barkisland and Elland host Armitage Bridge and Shepley respectively, while Clayton West, with Phil Tunnicliffe in top form, might fancy their chances of upsetting holders Scholes.
Tunnicliffe took four for 58 against Elland last weekend and then hit 128 not out as they knocked off 225-9 with almost 10 overs to spare and six wickets down.
Scholes, however, are expecting overseas all-rounder Ishan Rangana to be fully recovered from a sprained ankle which kept him on the sidelines until he fielded in the 10-wicket win over Mirfield Parish on Monday.
The draw has not been kind to other Championship clubs, however, with Skelmanthorpe due at League leaders Hoylandswaine and Rastrick – joint top of the second tier – at Delph.
Of the all-Premiership ties, Cawthorne will hope to do better in the Cup than they did in the league against rampant Honley, while Thongsbridge v Moorlands promises to be a cracker.
All Rounder Sykes Cup. Second round: Elland v Shepley, Barkisland v Armitage Bridge, Thongsbridge v Moorlands, Hoylandswaine v Skelmanthorpe, Delph & Dobcross v Rastrick, Clayton West v Scholes, Honley v Cawthorne, Almondbury Wesleyan v Mirfield Parish Cav.
Fired Up Paddock Shield. Second round: Broad Oak v Golcar, Armitage Bridge v Hoylandswaine, Kirkburton v Barkisland, Scholes v Clayton West, Moorlands v Honley, Skelmanthorpe v Elland, Cawthorne v Delph & Dobcross, Edgerton & Dalton v Shepley.