Cuckney pushed all the way in narrow victory over Hucknall

Hucknall, who have started the season well, were asked to bat and were bowled out for 154 in 41.2 overs.

Captain Sam Johnson scored 35 and Joel Jordan 32.

After losing opener Tom Rowe with nine on the board, Cuckney settled and were 64-2 when they suddenly lost their next five wickets for just 17 runs.

But they steadied the ship once more and reached a winning 157-8 with just six balls to spare.

Top scorers were Eliot Callis (35), Will Booth (34 not out) and Nick Keast (32).

Evan Jordan claimed 3-25 from 10 overs.

Cuckney are only in third on run rate while Hucknall are behind them in fourth.

“It was a very tight game,” said Cuckney vice captain Tom Ullyott.

“We were very happy to bowl them out for 154 and thought we had done half the job - and done it pretty well.

“But after a good start we lost six wickets in quick succession and at 120-8 it felt like the game was more in Hucknall's hands.

“Good late knocks by Will Booth and Archie Shannon proved crucial in the context of the game and managed to get us over the line with an over to spare.

“It's nice to see the lower order contributing with the bat, even though their job is with the ball. The batters don't let them down very often but they did on Saturday.”

Neighbours Welbeck managed a much-needed three wicket win away at Attenborough but remain in the bottom two.

Choosing to bat, Attenborough were all out for 142 in 38.4 overs.

A poor start saw them reduced to 31-4 from which they struggled to recover.

Matthew Hill hit 39 and Lucas Stentiford 28, the duo putting on 46 for the fifth wicket, but the innings belonged to Welbeck bowler James Hayes with his 6-51 from 9.4 overs.

Welbeck's reply did not start well as they lost two wickets with 14 runs on the board.

But Mat Roberts (58), including nine fours and a six, and 25 each for Jack Atherton and Josh Sanderson helped them to 143-7 in 27 overs.

Atherton and Roberts made 53 for the fourth wicket and Roberts and Sanderson the same for the fifth wicket.

A late scare saw them go from 121-5 to 122-7 but they were able to get over the line.

Head coach Richard Stroh said: “It was good to get only our second win of the season and hopefully we can now get some momentum to drive us forward.

“It was a very lively wicket and Notts' James Hayes had a decent day with six wickets and other lads chipped in. We restricted them to 142, which was great.

“But we made hard work of our reply, knocking it off with seven down, and it was a good job we had made a decent start or it could have been a very interesting finish.”

Welbeck will host Cuckney in a local derby this Saturday.

After two successive wins for the first time at this level, promoted Clipstone went down by six wickets at home to a powerful Kimberley Institute, who sit second in the table.

Clipstone elected to bat and ended their 50 overs with 186-9.

Smith Thaker led the way with 54, including six fours and one six, while Adam Dutton added 32, Alex King ending with 3-43 off nine overs.

Kimberley opener Akhil Patel scored 70 off 101 balls, with eight fours and two sixes, and a willing partner in Martin Weightman (50), the pair putting on 67 for the third wicket, and Dom Brown (46 not out) then joined Weightman in the middle to make 57 for the fourth wicket.

That paved the way for victory as they reached 192-4 in 47.4 overs.

Senior Clipstone player Ian Woodall said: “We batted really well on a wicket that wasn't batter-friendly, though we probably could have gone a bit quicker than we did.

“It took Kimberley nearly 48 overs to knock them off and we bowled and fielded really well.

“But they are in a different class and just had that next gear to turn to. They never looked like they would fail to get over the line.

“They just took their time and didn't make any mistakes – the sign of a good side.

“But we take heart from every fixture and move on to next Saturday.

“We are on 24 points now after three wins out of eight and I think we need around seven to keep in this league.

“We are getting better. We are hanging in there in games now instead of being turned over quite easily.

“We are going to have to beat someone up there nearer the top to stay up, but we're confident we will do that.”

On Saturday Clipstone head for Hucknall.

In Division Two Mansfield Hosiery Mills won by 29 runs at Cavaliers & Carrington seconds, thanks to some good batting from their lower order.

Put into bat, Mills were all out for 144 in 38 overs.

A dreadful start saw them stumble to 35-6.

But Charana Nanyakkara's unbeaten 53 was the backbone of their innings, batting at number eight, and he put on 42 with Joshua Dykes for the seventh wicket and 51 with Muhammad Shahzad Faisal for the ninth wicket.

Gemaal Hussain took 4-20 from eight overs.

Cavaliers had a similar poor start, struggling to 69-6.

Captain Hussain made 36, but the excellent Adam Dobb mopped up the later order batsmen and ended with 5-21 from 9.3 overs.

Cuckney seconds won by six wickets at Clifton Village.

The home side lost the toss and were asked to bat and made 138 all out, Zac Phait with 43, Ayman Karim with 33 and Richard Bostock taking 4-21.

Cuckney reached 142-3 in 31 overs, Adam Burgess scoring 45 not out, including six fours, and James Hawley 26.