Now Kiveton shock Cutthorpe
by Paul Barker, 1st June2004

After claiming top spot on Saturday, Kiveton Park cemented their path with a conclusive 85 run win over Cutthorpe on Bank Holiday Monday and in so doing made the title favourites wish this weekend happenings had never taken place.

Kiveton are certainly a side with their tails up at the moment and it shows. At no time did they look in any danger of letting this one slip and Australian Ryan Snape with a superb 68, and Adam Burgess with a polished 31 moved them away to an excellent start.

When the fifty overs ran out Kiveton had made a quite daunting 213 for 9 whilst Asadullah Butt (4 for 84) and Andy Pierrepont (5 for 69) bagged all the wickets to fall between them.

From the moment Cutthorpe started their reply, Kiveton got right amongst them and straight away they were in serious trouble with James Radford (4 for 47) in truly great form. Nobody apart from the brilliant Asadullah Butt who made 55 batted with any confidence as Kiveton bowled them out for just 128 to record a rather comfortable win.

Kiveton seem to have grown in statue after hitting the top and certainly look an extremely confident side, and so they should after two magnificent results this weekend. Nobody however could have visualised Cutthorpe taking only four points out of the forty available to them over this period. Every match before they have totally dominated, and they must now regroup quickly or any hopes they might have had will totally disappear.

Notts & Arnold Amateur are just behind Kiveton only by a single point and have a match in hand also. They totally mastered a willing but badly outgunned Edwinstowe by 64 runs at Forest Corner after batting first and piling up an impressive 200 for 7.

Julian Thornhill who batted magnificently at Cutthorpe on Saturday again rose to the occasion with a brilliant 100 and excellent support came from skipper Peter Evans (60 n.o.). Richard Gombos (3 for 32) and skipper John Garnham (4 for 64) both bowled well for Edwinstowe who would have hoped for better at one time, but allowed the score to run away from them towards the end of the innings.

Sadly Edwinstowe never looked like threatening this score and were bowled out for just 136. Australian star Justin Foss was the hero for Notts. & Arnold who wrapped up another good win with ease.

Mansfield Hosiery Mills keep making their presence felt and they managed 17 points for a winning draw against lowly Bolsover in a fabulous encounter at the Fieldings. Batting first Hosiery Mills piled up a staggering 298 for 4 with Mark Curtis (81) Jason Gorman (66) Clive Graham (57) and Jeff Appleton (33) taking a tremendous toll on the Bolsover attack in which Tariq Rashid (4 for 93) captured all the wickets that fell.

Not that Bolsover intended to give in without a fight and they certainly made a tremendous effort totalling 202 for 8 when the overs ran out. The brilliant Rashid added to his bowling skills with a superb 61 and with fine support from Matt Bull (30) and Matt Griffith (36) they fought all the way but the scoring rate was always just beyond them. Clive Graham was the best of the Hosiery Mills attack taking 3 for 56 in a tremendous match.

Another exciting affair saw Bridon record a fantastic six wicket win over Blidworth at Ordsall. Batting first Blidworth at last put things together reaching a well made 236 for 8 with skipper Richard Price (60) leading the way. Great support came from New Zealander Aran Pairama (57) Dave Willcock (40 n.o.) and wicket keeper Elliott Hind (37) whilst medium pacer Rob Smart bowled superbly for Bridon to take 6 for 51 in the face of such a terrific onslaught.

Even this huge target was not enough however as Bridon surged to victory on 237 for 4 with Rob McLeod producing all his old magic and rolling back the years with a magnificent unbeaten 113. Great support came from Craig Saxelby (46) and Bridon must have gone home from this one feeling extremely happy indeed.

Thoresby Colliery who pulled off a great win at Bolsover on Saturday descended into the doldrums once again as they succumbed to a nine wicket defeat at the hands of Cuckney. Batting first, Thoresby were certainly not at their fluent best with only Paul Hughes making a superb 75 showing anything like his best form as his side were limited to a disappointing 155 for 8. Andy Stephenson (3 for 24) was the pick of the Cuckney attack.

It is a well known saying in any form of sport that players often come back to haunt their old clubs and Dean Sayer did just that making an assured unbeaten 64. Great support was added by Will Montgomery (79 n.o.) as Cuckney strode to an impressive 16 points in a rather comfortable manner.

Glapwell who are looking more potent every week recorded a winning draw over Worksop who have been in great form of late. Batting first Glapwell made a strong but not insurmountable 170 for 7 with Matt Hall (38), Lee Topham (36) and skipper Andy Smith (33 n.o.) leading the way. Paul Burton continued his good form with 4 for 54 and Simon Robson supported well with 3 for 31.

In reply Worksop could only manage 146 for 7 with Steve Bentley (40) the only man to give concern to the Glapwell attack in which Matt Hall (3 for 49) was outstanding. None of the other Worksop batsmen looked comfortable and Glapwell once again showed what a great improvement they have made this season.

Killamarsh the Division 2 leaders showed their brilliant best form as they totally dominated Blyth to win by nine wickets. Blyth were never at ease and none of their batsmen made any showing as they were dismissed for just 90 with Steve Ludlam (3 for 14) and Parminder Mudhar (4 for 25) totally controlling proceedings.

This target was never going to trouble the league leaders and they strode to victory in emphatic fashion after losing just a single wicket. Sam Malpass (43 n.o.) and Paul Burdett (55 n.o.) made it look oh so easy as Killamarsh continue to set the pace at the top.

Papplewick & Linby 2 nd came back from their defeat at Killamarsh on Saturday to record a well earned five wicket win over Notts. & Arnold 2 nd at Papplewick Hall. Batting first Notts. & Arnold gave a good account of themselves making a highly impressive 195 for 7 with David Harris (44), Iffy Ahmed (35) and Sam Pallister (32) all batting well. Matthew Alford (3 for 62) and Danny Clayton (3 for 37) both did sterling work for the Papplewick attack.

The match went right to the last over when Papplewick finally reached their goal at 197 for 5. Gareth Rusinowski (51) and Adam Somekh (45) both batted extremely well as a great match conclude with an exciting climax.

Marshalls kept up the pressure in third place with a winning draw at Anston. Once again the highly talented Liam Andrews batted superbly to make 54 and Chris Hearn contributed a useful 31 as Marshalls closed on an imposing 228 for 6.

Anston didn’t quite look like reaching this target and closed on 168 for 9. Not that it wasn’t possible but when Matthew Hewitt (54) and Andrew Ruczenczyn (46) had gone the game looked to be up. Liam Andrews showed his superb all round ability again taking 4 for 40 and excellent support came from Mark Davies who was as miserly as ever whilst taking 3 for 63 in an excellent stint.

Eckington kept up the pressure also, beating Whitwell by five wickets on a complete shirt-front at Staveley Lane . Batting first Whitwell managed a tremendous 229 for 3 and spare a real tear or two for Alan Draycott who made a sensational unbeaten 134 only to end on the losing side. Darren Westerby (43) added excellent support but Whitwell must have thought the job was done at the half way stage.

It wasn’t however and some brilliant batting from Rob Carlile (64), Richard Bostock (61), John Dyson (39 n.o.) and Andy Davies (38 n.o.) took Eckington to 233 for 5 and a memorable victory. One can only feel sorry for Alan Draycott to end on the losing side after an innings like this but any cynic who thinks the game of cricket is boring ought to have been at this match. It was a magnificent spectacle and a credit to Bassetlaw cricket.

N.S.K. are still struggling to find the form that everyone believes they are capable of and they suffered another defeat at the hands of North Wheatley with Leverton at Elm Avenue. Batting first N.S.K. could only make a disappointing 151 for 6 with Steve Flynn (39) and Dave Hatton (34) preventing an even worse rout as Rob Hackney (5 for 24) bowled quite superbly.

North Wheatley never looked like releasing their grip on the game and skipper Richard Robinson (38) and Wayne Ellis (35) saw them home at 152 for 7 whilst Andrew Cox (4 for 42) was the best of the N.S.K. bowlers.

The final match was between the bottom two sides Pilsley and Clay Cross and the former leapfrogged the latter to move away from the bottom position with a crushing eight wicket win. Only Ian Knowles with 28 made any impression as Clay Cross were bowled out for just 123 in a poor display of batting. Tim Mason (3 for 13) was the pick of a varied Pilsley attack with four other bowlers all grabbing a wicket or two each.

This total wasn’t likely to deter Pilsley and Saeed Bin Nasir in particular. The Pakistani is far and away the best batsman in this division and showed it once again making a fabulous unbeaten 101 out of 127 for 2 as Pilsley strode to a morale boosting win.