Cuckney blow title after batters choke

The West Indian Cavaliers clinched their ninth Nottinghamshire Premier League title after Cuckney missed a second chance to secure back-to-back titles.

Richard Stroh’s men slipped to an agonising 60 run defeat at home to Rolls Royce that gave the Cavs the chance they needed to secure the title by notching up their 16th win of the season away at Clifton.

Cuckney had blown the chance to clinch the title last week after they were surprisingly beaten by Cayhorpe.

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And the focused Cavaliers needed no more invitations as they fielded first and reduced Clifton to 59 for 6.

A stand of 136 in 24 overs between Martin Weightman (88) and David Lucas (64) brought respectability into sight and Clifton were finally all out in the 46th over for 218.

Ameer Ahmed grabbed 3 for 27 with a pair of wickets for Aatif Ali, Usman Afzaal and Akhil Patel.

The Cavs also struggled early on but recovered from 22 for 3 with Afzaal and Bilal Shafayat putting on 110 for the 5th wicket.

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Skipper Afzaal saw is side home with an unbeaten 100 with Lucas completing a good day with figures of 3-37.

Cuckney had needed just 14 points at the start of the day to secure successive NPL titles, but only managed to claim four.

Visitors Rolls were dismissed in the 44th over for 198 and Cuckney must have thought they had one hand on the trophy.

Adeel Shafique struck his second NPL ton of the season, hitting 103 from 120 balls, with Tom Lungley supporting with 41 and Luke Thomas taking 4 for 23.

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For the second week running, the Cuckney batting unit did not respond well to a relatively modest target and were skittled for 138 in the penultimate over with Lungley taking 4 for 28 and Ben Phillips 3 for 26. This result sees Rolls Royce finish in second and Cuckney third.

Farnsfield were the side with a hope of overtaking Kimberley and they gave themselves the best chance of avoiding relegation by inflicting their second defeat on Plumtree at Station Lane;

Plumtree posted a slightly below par 198 in their first innings with David Bedingham again impressing with 43 and Sam Storey 30.

Graeme White, skippering in Paul Franks’ absence took 4 for 71 and Dave Loveridge 3 for 37.

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The home batting unit were always on track and got there with more than five overs to spare with Callum McKenzie hitting 51 and White adding 48.

Muhammad Usman led the Plumtree bowlers with figures of 3 for 50.

The result sees Farnsfield finish in eleventh spot and relegated although they will keep a close eye on the outcome of the Mansfield Hosiery Mills disciplinary situation.

The final game saw Welbeck score a winning draw over local rivals Mansfield Hosiery Mills at The Fieldings.

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Welbeck posted 210 for 4 in the first innings which was limited to 42 overs due to a late start, with Matt Higgins hitting 105, Adam Burgess 50 and Billy Godleman 39.

The Millers managed to reach 204 for 6 in their 42 overs with Tom New top-scoring with 69, Gareth Curtis adding 41 and Matt New ending on 38 not out. Rob French led the Welbeck attack with figures of 4 for 31.