Batsmen make hay in the sun

The warm weather has led to a batsman's paradise in the Nottinghamshire Premier League and in the second round of matches, eight of the 12 sides managed maximum batting points.

No game illustrated this better than that at Kiveton Park, who welcomed West Indian Cavaliers to their ground for their inaugural home match in the Premier League.

The home side won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first, a plan that misfired a little when they declared on a massive 319-1 after 45 overs.

Usman Afzaal played a magnificent hand in scoring 165 not out, superbly supported by Aaron Thomas with an unbeaten 110, together putting on an unbroken stand of 276 – a Premier League record for the second wicket.

In reply, Kiveton did well to remain unbeaten especially when they had to survive 55 overs.

They closed on 207-6 and grabbed all four batting bonus points. Matthew Cartwright (60) and Richard Grainger (50) will have been pleased to get some good runs against quality opposition, which included former Pakistan star Saqlain Mushtaq, who had another good game with a return of 4-36.

This result leaves Cavs second in the table, three points behind leaders Welbeck Colliery who recorded their second straight win in beating Cuckney by four wickets.

Home team Cuckney won the toss and batted first and may have been disappointed with a score of 184-9, with Adam Burgess's 34 being the only significant contribution.

Jon Ball and Ashley Willis led the attack for Welbeck with 4-48 and 3-20 respectively.

The Welbeck batters tucked in after tea but lost six wickets in the successful run chase with Matt New snaring 3-73. But 42 from Rob French and 37 from Jamie Jevons got them over the line with 15 balls to spare.

As is often the case, the picturesque Knipton ground of Belvoir saw another very high-scoring match.

Visitors Kimberley won the toss and fielded first and will have been concerned when the league newcomers posted 249-3 in their allotted 50 overs.

New signing Gurpej Landa chipped in with a bright 46 to support Tom Neville (71*) and James Fellows (43*).

But the bowlers on both sides had a tough day and Kimberley's impressive start to the season continued when they raced to 250-3 in just over 39 overs thanks to solid knocks from Akhil Patel (78) and Jon Terry (68).

Clifton are in third after a last-over win away at Caythorpe.

The home side batted first and scored 237-9 with James Hawley continuing his fine start to the season with his second ton. His 109 was well supported by 55 from Steve Allcoat. Dan Footitt and Liam Andrews were the leading Clifton bowlers with 5-53 and 3-67 respectively.
Clifton's batting has been the powerhouse behind their championship titles but they were looking decidedly wobbly at 85-5.

But a fighting 62 from Scott McNeill, supported by 46 not out from Alistair Walters got them back on track and Walters combined well with Dominic Harvey (36*) as they put on an unbeaten 58 to win the game. This was despite some solid bowling from Steve Randall (4-69) and Jim Hemmings (3-66).

Papplewick continued their poor start to the season with a six-wicket loss away at Mansfield Hosiery Mills. Papplewick batted first on winning the toss and scored a par 250-8, with Mark Nelson grabbing an impressive 143 not out from only 108 balls, smashing 18 fours and five sixes.

Nelson was aided by a more sedate 50 by opener Alex Lloyd. The most successful home bowler was New with 4-81.

In reply, returning Gareth Curtis tucked in with an early-season ton, scoring 103 from 111 balls, and with Sudesh Fernando contributing 71 not out at more than a run a ball, Mansfield won with two overs to spare.

The final game of the day was at Wollaton where veteran spinner Gerry McMahon was hoping to sign off on a positive note against the Nottinghamshire Academy side.

But the youngsters had obviously not read the script when Wollaton were floundering on 32-5 thanks to a strong opening spell of bowling from George Bacon (3-20) and Bobby Gamble (2-11).

That the home side recovered to post a total of 166-9 was largely down to the efforts of Tim Young (52) and James Godrich (59). Sam Wood also chipped in for the Academy with 3-47.

When the county side came to bat, they increased the pain on the now bottom-placed side by inflicting a full ten-wicket loss with openers Tom Rowe scoring 77 not out and Sam Kelsall 58.

The game was won with 15 overs to spare and will not have been the way that the veteran left-armer McMahon would have wished to sign off.

BELVOIR (5 pts) 249-3 in 50 overs lost to Kimberley (17 pts) 250-3 in 39.3 overs. For Belvoir: T Neville 71*, G Landa 46, J Fellows 43*. For Kimberley: A Patel 78, J Terry 68.

CAYTHORPE (7 pts) 237-9 in 50 overs lost to Clifton (20 pts) 241-8 in 49.5 overs. For Caythorpe: J Hawley 109, S Allcoat 54, S Randall 4-69, J Hemmings 3-66. For Clifton: S McNeill 62, A Walters 46*, D Harvey 36*, D Footitt 5-53, L Andrews 3-67.

WI Cavaliers (16 pts) 319-1d in 45 overs drew with KIVETON PARK (6 pts) 207-6 in 55 overs. For Kiveton Park: M Cartwright 60, R Grainger 50, T Ward 35. For WI Cavaliers: U Afzaal 165*, A Thomas 110*, S Mushtaq 4-36.

WOLLATON (2 pts) 166-9 in 50 overs, lost to Notts Academy (18 pts) 170-0 in 33.4 overs. For Wollaton: J Godrich 58, T Young 52. For Notts Academy: T Rowe 77*, S Kelsall 58*, G Bacon 3-20, S Wood 3-47.

Papplewick (5 pts) 250-8 in 50 overs lost MANSFIELD HM (19 pts) 255-4 in 48 overs.For Mansfield HM: G Curtis 103, S Fernando 71*, M New 4-81. For Papplewick: M Nelson 143*, A Lloyd 50.

CUCKNEY (5 pts) 184-9 in 50 overs lost to Welbeck (19 pts) 185-6 in 47.3 overs. For Cuckney: A Burgess 34, D Brown 3-73. For Welbeck Colliery: R French 42, J Jevons 37, Jonathan Ball 4-48, A Willis 3-20.

Result in order of team batting first. Uppercase indicates home side.

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