If anyone must have been crying in his drink at the end of this pulsating match it must surely have been the brilliant Asadullah Butt who made a sensational unbeaten 165 only to end up on the losing side for all his efforts.

Butt received great support from Karl Fields who made 35 whilst Kiveton were well served by Chris Storey who bowled well to take 3 for 42. This target would have been enough on 99 occasions out of 100 but some superb batting which was well orchestrated by the magnificent Andy Marsh who played superbly for his 89 runs saw his side home in style.

Great support from by Richard Grainger (40), Australian Matt Williams (63) and an unbeaten 35 by skipper Rob Coxon saw Kiveton reach 260 for 5 and a memorable victory with just over two overs to spare. Another person worthy of credit is the Kiveton Park groundsman who did a fabulous job in preparing such a wicket which resulted in a wonderful game of cricket between two very good sides.

Retford cemented their position at the top with a comprehensive victory over Glapwell who did quite well until the second half of the match. Only Nigel Hall (64) and Steve Randall (36) batted with any confidence as Retford struggled to 162 all out against a Glapwell attack in which Tim Rice (5 for 21) bowled a truly inspired spell. Skipper Phil Matthews was involved in five dismissals taking three catches and pulling off two stumpings.

The match then turned completely round Paul Singleton bagging 5 for 39 and Steve Randall 4 for 18 as Retford blasted Glapwell out for just 81 runs to claim maximum points.

Arnold kept up the pressure in second place taking maximum points in comfortable fashion against Bolsover. Indeed had it not been for a superb virtuoso performance by Bolsover’s Eddie Grant the defeat would have been even more devastating. Batting first Bolsover were bowled out for just 136 with only Grant making any impact with an unbeaten 36. Scott Leivers (4 for 29) and evergreen veteran Rick Peacock (5 for 35) completely wrecked the Bolsover batting and set up an easy march to victory.

This was achieved with Russell Bostock making 48 and Eddie Grant capturing all three wickets to fall at a personal cost of 24 runs as Arnold romped home by seven wickets at 138 for 3.

Cuckney are taking giant leaps up the table and they demolished last season’s Division 2 champions North Wheatley in emphatic fashion by 118 runs. Batting first Cuckney were indebted to Jimmi Hussain who made a brilliant unbeaten 107 and Jason Lucas (30) out of a total of 235 for 9. South African Tiene Maree once again bowled well to take 4 for 74, and skipper Jamie Bovill also claimed 4 for 74.

After last weeks morale boosting win over Kiveton, one would have expected North Wheatley to have got somewhere near this target but it was back to their bad old ways as they totally collapsed to 117 all out with only Wayne Harrison (37) saving them from complete disaster. Andy Stephenson (4 for 41) and Andrew Jackman with the incredible figures of 4 for 6 simply cut through some tame resistance as Wheatley were dismissed for just 117 as Cuckney zipped up to fourth place in the league after a horrible start to the season.

A high scoring match at Huthwaite Road saw Mansfield Hosiery Mills eek out a winning draw over a determined Killamarsh side. Batting first Hosiery Mills went on a run feats scoring 269 all out with Jonathan Smaill making an impressive 92 and good support came from Jeff Appleton (44) and Clive Graham (41 n.o.). Parmindar Mudhar (3 for 70) bowled well in the face of a terrific onslaught from the Hosiery Mills batsmen.

Killamarsh had no intentions of taking this lying down however making 216 for 9 in an excellent reply. Sam Malpass (62) batted superbly as did Australian Andrew Hagnoffer (38) and Rob Carlisle (31). The extremely economical Nolan McKenzie (4 for 44) bowled well for Hosiery Mills but the last pair simply couldn’t be parted in a compelling match.

Farnsfield are for the first time in living memory in serious trouble near the foot of the table and their awful form continued as they were resoundingly beaten by seven wickets by Thoresby Colliery at Station Lane. The Farnsfield batting simply disintegrated as Aussie Daniel Nash (4 for 19) and Kiwi Ben Winslade simply ripped through them to bowl them out for just 133.

This target proved no obstacle to Thoresby and Daniel Nash (51) and Paul Hughes (44 n.o.) bludgeoned them to an easy victory with the minimum of effort at 135 for 3 to take maximum points.

In Division 2, Edwinstowe continued their role as pacemakers with an easy 44 run win over Eckington. Batting first Edwinstowe reached 174 for 7 with Dave Hallam and John Garnham top scoring with 34 each. Mike Long also scored 34 for Eckington but the excellent Edwinstowe attack in which Australian Garth Brown (3 for 22) played the starring role bowled them out for just 130 as Edwinstowe picked up yet another maximum.

The match of the day in this section was held at Gainsborough and saw Marshalls impressively gain a winning draw over title favourites Worksop. Batting first Paul Van den Heuvel made a brilliant unbeaten 113 and he received great support from James Deacon who was run out in the last over for 72 as Marshalls closed on an impressive 230 for 3.

Worksop made a terrific start and looked certain winners as they coasted along to 150 for 1 with plenty of overs remaining. However when Steve Walker was run out for 65 and Glen Pym was dismissed for 84 the skids went under the rest of the batting and they were hanging on at 192 for 8 as the overs ran out. Andrew West (5 for 39) bowled quite superbly for Marshalls who are certainly a huge threat to anyone and will be there or there about at the end of the campaign.

Another side who are showing great improvement after a bad start to the season are N.S.K. and they continued their healthy run of form with a comprehensive victory over bottom club Everton by 73 runs. Batting first N.S.K. finished with a total of 174 for 8 with John Smith top scoring on 44 and Darren Sides bowling well for Everton to take 3 for 19.

The target was never threatened as Everton capitulated to 101 all out with a disappointing batting display. Gary Lambert did the bulk of the damage taking 4 for 24 as N.S.K. continued their march up the table.

Anston rattled up the highest score of the day making a highly impressive 305 for 6 against Ashover. Akilesh Rana scored a brilliant 117 and found excellent support from Andy Ruczenczyn (61) and John Lyne (57). Roger Bolstridge toiled away manfully to take 3 for 95 in a fine effort to stem the tide.

Ashover never remotely looked like threatening this target after Russell Cooke was needlessly run out and concluded on 199 for 4. Andy Walker (32), skipper Tim Ducksbury (37) and Roger Bolstridge who had a superb all round match finishing with a brilliant unbeaten 86, but it was never going to be enough as Anston picked up 15 points for the winning draw.

Pilsely came back from the dead to beat neighbours Biwater Clay Cross by one wicket in a nail biting finish. Batting first Biwater were dismissed for 144 with only Kevin Robinson (37) making any impact against Mark Limb (4 for 31) and Dave Schofield (3 for 34) who both bowled extremely well.

At 126 for 9 Pilsley must have feared the worse but the last pair doggedly steered them home at 146 for 9 although they must have been very grateful to have had Saed Bin Nasir who made 75 vital runs to put them within striking distance. Steve Cracknell bowled brilliantly for Biwater to take 6 for 55 and certainly didn’t deserve to end up on the losing side.

Whitwell and Blyth served up a fine game and the latter must have been rueing their slow start which cost them dearly at the end. Whitwell were well served by South African star Michael Alexander scored a brilliant 130 which was his third century of the season and he received superb assistance from Alan Draycott (31) whilst John Smith bore the brunt of the Blyth attack taking 3 for 57.

In reply Blyth started slowly with eight maiden overs recorded in the first 13 overs. Geoff Chessman (61) and Pete Jones (67) got them back on track but with Richard Haslam (5 for 44) bowling magnificently they finished ten runs short of victory when the overs ran out at 194 for 6.The start certainly made their target very difficult but Whitwell will be delighted to get back to winning ways after some depressing results of late.