Clifton Extend Their Lead At The Top

Leaders Clifton stretched their lead at the top to 24 points by racking up a 143 run win over potential championship rivals Kimberley at the Clifton Oval.

Batting first, the home side’s batting continued its fine form with a total of 294 for 9; Dan Birch struck his second league century of the season with 106 from just 116 balls and received excellent support from Martin Weightman with 62. Jarred Sewell was Kimberley’s most successful bowler with 3-89. The visitors never really got their response going and were bowled out for just 151 in fewer than 40 overs. Weightman weighed in with a man of the match performance with 5-27 and Liam Andrews added 3-32.

Second-placed West Indian Cavaliers saw their title challenge slip a little when they got the best of a draw at home to Welbeck Colliery. The Cavaliers batted first and finished on 265 for nine with solid contributions from Steve Atkinson (53) and Patrick Gada (51*). Two bowlers stood out in the Welbeck attack – Charlie Shreck with 4-68 and Guy Darwin with 3-66. In reply, Welbeck missed out on maximum batting points by just 10 when the ended on 190 for 7; Guy Darwin had an excellent day with 70* to add to his bowling return and Zubin Faisal grabbed the headline return for Cavaliers with 3-28.

At the other end of the table, Mansfield Hosiery Mills grabbed 20 valuable win points to move clear of the relegation zone when they travelled to Wollaton. The visitors were bowled out for 209 in just short of their 50 over allocation with the Sudesh Fernando scoring 73 and Matt New 35. David Smith (4-49) and John Christiansen (3-37) were the best Wollaton bowlers. The home side were dismissed in 49 overs for 188 with Keshara Jayasinghe taking 5-52 and Stephen Ludlam 3-44. Only 18 year old Tim Young managed to get to grips with the Hosiery Mills attack with an unbeaten 51. Mansfield are now in eighth place and Wollaton remain in the relegation zone in eleventh.

Radcliffe are the side in tenth and they travelled to Caythorpe and came away with a losing draw; the home side batted first and rattled up 267 for 5 Guy Welton taking the honours with 120 from 142 balls, aided by Steve Allcoat (67) and Jim Hawley (41). Radcliffe got within 16 runs when they finished on 251 for with Luc Durandt continuing his excellent form with 75 assisted by Dan Mason with 69. Caythorpe’s Steve Randall closed with figures of 4-74.

Bottom side Attenborough must now be favourites for the drop as they followed last week’s win with their eighth loss at home to Cuckney. The visitors batted first and will have been satisfied with their total of 256 for 5, thanks mainly to skipper Richard Stroh with 88 not out, and Will Butler (78) and Adam Burgess (42). Attenborough will bowled out in just 30 overs for 140 with only Martin Shoemaker (35) making a significant contribution. Will Butler rounded off an excellent day with 7-56 to grab the headlines.

The final game of the day saw Papplewick host the Notts Academy; the youngsters batted first and did well to post 246-5 with skipper Scott Elstone starring with 84 not out, with excellent support from Michael Robson (45), Sam Kelsall and Sam Wood (both 36). They were only two wickets from recording a famous victory when the home side finished on 221 for 8, thanks to Dan Cumming with 3-51. Papplewick’s innings was lead by Mark Nelson with 65 and Brad Matthews with 39.