Menston dodge rain and storm to victory (From Ilkley Gazette)

Menston dodge rain and storm to victory

7:10am Thursday 21st June 2012 in Sport

Menston were the only side to win a match in the league as rain wrecked Saturday’s programme and it moved them up to second in Division Three, six points behind leaders Colton.

The soggy summer of 2012 has already seen more than twice as many matches lost as the whole of last season, and we are not even at the halfway point.

But Menston took full advantage, with John Storey (44), Kyle Smith (34) and Gareth Lee (33) leading the way in their 177 total.

Alwoodley proved much more resilient than their lowly position suggested but Lee (4-36), Storey (3-48) and Chris Baldwin (3-25) managed to bowl them out still 13 runs short of victory.

The only other game to reach a result was in Division One, where Otley took four points off Follifoot, largely thanks to their middle-order batting.

In a match restricted to 42 overs per side, Stewart Smith (50) and Andrew Ross (46) turned round their innings with a stand of 79.

Matt O’Grady came in and added a useful 15 while Richard Rhodes took them to 198-6 with an unbeaten 35.

Stewart Smith played an important part once again, catching Follifoot’s top scorer James Pickles (36) just as he seemed to be threatening, and Rhodes (3-31) helped restrict the visitors to 163-6.

Craig Walton hit 121 and shared a club record opening stand of 217 with Chris Luxton (83) as Steeton raced to 252-4 at Ben Rhydding. But rain struck with the home side on 7-0.

Thackley slumped from 35-1 to 46-6 but a late flourish from Mahir Ali (34) and Gavin Lyons (24) helped them set a target of 131. Collingham were 41-0 when rain ended play.

Neil Davies (4-30) and Nick Brook (2-19) helped restrict Kirkstall to 102-7 off their 20 overs but Burley only got to 8-0 before play was abandoned.

Division Two, leaders Green Lane set a target of 206-7, with Andrew Pickles hitting a half-century and Davin Charleton 39. But rain prevented Upper Wharfedale from replying.