Thoresby thump new boys in opener

Bennett made a magnificent unbeaten 135 and Skinner a brilliant 103 as Thoresby completed their 50 overs with a massive 296-3.

Killamarsh must have wondered what had hit them and if it had all been worthwhile gaining promotion.

However, they did try manfully and were finally bowled out for 174 with Aaron Green (44) and James Daniel (41) top-scoring.

Lee Willis was the pick of the Thoresby attack with 3-15 and the side looks better than they have had for a few years now.

Killamarsh will need to improve to survive, but they won’t meet many sides who show this sort of form throughout the season.

If ever a side threw a match away it must have been Notts & Arnold Amateur who tied with Glapwell when it looked much easier to win.

Glapwell batted first and found the going difficult, and the scoring rate was very dull against some quality slow bowling from Liam Patterson-White (3-52) and Dilhan Cooray (3-19).

Thanks to Lee Topham (37) and Danny Bircumshaw (44), Glapwell finally finished on 166-7, which still looked a fairly easy target for Notts & Arnold.

Despite losing two very important wickets in Ian Flood and Dilhan Cooray very early, Sam Ecob was batting brilliantly and victory looked assured with only 20 runs needed and seven wickets still in the bank plus 12 overs.

However, Ecob suddenly looked nervous when there was no need and his splendid shots became panicky. He was out for 80 and the rest collapsed like a pack of cards to Scott Smith (5-5) to be all out for 166 and a tie.

Farnsfield who were relegated from the Premier League last term put out a very youthful side and trounced Worksop by seven wickets with style.

Only Bernhard Beukman (41) and Chris Taylor (37) made any impact against the steady line of James Bowker (3-43) and the wiles of Dave Loveridge (4-49) and Worksop were dismissed for just 156.

In reply, Matthew Sisson (44) and Zach Richmond-Dixon (52) quickly put the result beyond doubt as Farnsfield coasted to a very easy win.

Clipstone showed what a good side they are when they just failed to beat the other relegated side, Papplewick & Linby.

Batting first, Clipstone made 184 all out with Barbadian Justin Braithwaite top-scoring with 46 well-crafted runs. Gareth Blinkhorn (3-65) and Jon Thrower (3-31) were the pick of the Papplewick attack.

This modest total always looked too much for Papplewick and they just held out at 166-9.

Tom Bowers made 38, but the rest struggled badly against Ian Woodall who helped himself to 6-30 and almost cemented victory for Clipstone.

Caythorpe seconds fought hard but finally went down by three wickets to Anston.

Batting first, Caythorpe made 122 all out with Peter Mansfield (40) and Andrew Staszkiewicz (38) crying out for a little more support.

Amila Perera (5-34) once again proved to be a major asset to Anston with his superb line and length bowling.

It wasn’t easy, however, as Geoff Crook (3-31) quickly made inroads into the Anston batting. But significant contributions down the order finally saw Anston reach 125-7 and victory.

The match between North Wheatley with Leverton and Kiveton Park was abandoned without a ball being bowled.