Big blow as Cuckney are beaten in top of the table title clash with Cavaliers

With only eight games left, Cuckney now trail top spot by 16 points.

“We never give up no matter what competition it is,” said vice captain Tom Ullyott.

“Saturday was an opportunity for us to get things back level. But we were never at the races in a one-sided affair.

“Now it's out of our hands and we are relying on someone else to do us a favour.

“The best team in the league who are playing the best cricket are top of the league, and there is no denying that.”

Choosing to bat first, Cuckney made 230-8 in their 50 overs.

But they lost two wickets while on 17 runs and were then 26-3.

Ewan Laughton finally took a grip, making 83, including six fours and two sixes, while Tom Ullyott scored 33 and Nick Langford 30.

Laughton teamed up with Langford to make 61 for the fourth wicket and then added 83 for the fifth with Ullyott.

Yuvraj Singh chipped in with 26 and opener Nick Keast had made 24.

Raheem Ahmed ended with figures of 4-35 off eight overs for the Cavs.

In reply, opener Adeel Shafique was magnificent with 124, smashing 17 fours and two sixes.

He and Savin Perera (48) put on 98 for the opening wicket.

Farhan Ahmed was unbeaten on 27 as they reached 231-3 in 39.5 overs.

“We never really got going after making a very average start with the bat,” said Ullyott.

“We did recover but still knew it was probably not going to be enough on an improving wicket.

“That is back to back defeats which is disappointing and we must now go into next weekend and put that behind us with a quarter of the season left.”

Laughton's innings at least gave some satisfaction.

“He batted brilliantly,” said Ullyott. “He has been out injured since the start of the season, having broken his ankle playing rugby.

“It was really nice to see him come in under pressure at 26-3 and bat with a lot of maturity and authority.

“It was one of the few highlights from Saturday and hopefully he can now keep that up for the rest of the season.”

Welbeck were deposited back to the bottom of the table and look in trouble after a big 125-run home defeat by Papplewick & Linby, who moved above them.

Electing to bat, Papplewick amassed a huge 302-6, led by Matthew Montgomery's 107 in 97 balls, which included 15 boundaries.

Openers Byron Hatton-Lowe (47) and Callum Mckenzie (41) had set out their stall with a 55 partnership.

Mckenzie then put on 69 with Montgomery for the second wicket before Montgomery and Ben Shaw (57) added 136 for the third wicket.

Zack Berridge took three wickets at a cost of 74 runs.

Welbeck opener Jack Atherton stood firm with 65 in an opening partnership worth 97, and Jean Du Plessis added 43.

But the last eight wickets fell for 74 runs as they ended up on 177 all out in 34.5 overs, Sam Walker claiming 3-17 from 7.5 overs.

“That was a disappointing day – big time,” said Welbeck head coach Richard Stroh.

“With it being the bottom two clubs we knew it was a must-win game. But it just didn't materialise.

“They batted first on a good wicket and we bowled and fielded poorly – we dropped a lot of catches.

“We didn't feel it was a 300 wicket to start with. We should have kept them down to around 250 but our poor fielding cost us.

“But we were still positive. It was still a decent wicket when we went out to bat and we got off to a flier.

“We were 124-1 but then the wheels came off and we were 177 all out. We had four run-outs which cost us dearly.

“It was poor batting management and very disappointing.

“It has put us bottom of the table again and we know the rest of our games to the end of the season now are must-win games.”

This Saturday Clipstone, after a weekend off, face the ultimate test away at leaders Cavaliers, Cuckney are at Collingham and Welbeck are at home to Wollaton.

In Division Two, Cavaliers made it a double dose of defeat for Cuckney, winning the clash of the clubs' second teams by three wickets.

This was a closer affair after Cuckney made 252-6 in 50 overs after winning the toss.

Adam Burgess was the star turn, carrying his bat with 108, putting on 85 for the second wicket as he combined with Josh Porter (46).

Burgess and William Butler also added 53 for the fourth wicket while Burgess then made 49 for the sixth wicket with Drew Owen (36).

However, Cavaliers reached 255-7 with an over to spare, hitting nine off the penultimate over.

Jibran Azam was not out on 81, backed by Hasain Nasir (36) and Husnain Zulifiqar (39), Porter taking 3-51.

Mansfield Hosiery Mills maintained their promotion charge after a three wicket win over visiting Gedling & Sherwood.

The visitors batted first and were all out for 145, Yesith Rupasinghe taking 3-23 off 5.2 overs.

A very wobbly start by Hosiery Mills saw them lose opener Kamal Manek first ball and then slump to 38-5.

But the lower order came to the rescue as Adam Dobb (43 not out), Rupasinghe (38) and Muhammed Shahzad Faisal (26 not out) saw them over the line at 148-7 off just 29 overs, Dobb and Faisal making 48 for the eighth wicket.