Champions!

A huge well done to the 1sts as a win at Hoveringham sealed their return to the Nottinghamshire Premier League after just one season away.  A tremendous effort all round.

The game itself was nothing like the previous one-sided encounter at The Strand as Hoveringham racked up 221 before being bowled out in their last

Byron Haycock 116*

over.  Captain Dominic Harvey led the way with 4 for 43 supported by Pete and Ben Bhabra with 3 for 65 and 2 for 46 respectively.  Not a simple target and at 17 for 2 with last week's centurion back in the hutch it looked much more challenging.  Neil Thurlow put together a patient 37 but centre stage was Byron Haycock.  8 4s and 5 6s reverberated from his bat as he stroked his way to an unbeaten 116 off 134 balls whilst wickets fell around him.  In a tense finish Byron in a 7th wicket partnership with Pete Bhabra reached their target with just three balls to spare.   
Well done boys!

Scorecard

Tom Murray 3 - 29 and 38 runs

At The Strand there was an almost equally close finish as the 2nds overcame Eastwood by 2 wickets.  A modest target of 164 was set by the visitors after electing to bat.  Both Tom Shields and Tom Murray make somewhat erratic starts to their bowling spells but came back well to finish with 3 for 46 and 3 for 29 respectively.  At 75 for 1 the reply was going well but the introduction of spin from both ends made a big difference with wickets falling regularly to leave us on 150 for 8.  It was left to Josh Knight, last week's centurion for the 3rds, to hit the winning runs and maintain the lead at the top of Division B.
A win next week at Kimberley would put the 2nds in an almost unassailable position as they look to replace the 1sts in Division A.
Scorecard

There was disappointment in Division H as a comprehensive 9 wicket win for Balderton left the 3rds almost certainly needing to win their last two game to have any chance of avoiding relegation.  The game started reasonably well as we reached 199 for 8 from our 45 overs with Gordon Airey making 52.  However Balderton made short work of reaching their target losing only one wicket in the process.
The 3rds play Hucknall away next week in a game between the two teams most likely to fill the third relegation spot. 

The 4ths had a comfortable 78 run win on Long Lane against Chilwell to maintain their position in third place in Division L.  After being asked to bat first there were runs all the way down the order as the innings closed on 198 for 9.  Carl Knight top scored with a jug-avoiding 49, Lakshay Sharma made 36, Dave Harris 24, Joe Chima 22 and Set Puddy 18.  On the bowling front all bowlers used were juniors from the club and they all claimed at least one wicket; Lakshay Sharma sealed the man of the match award with 4 for 37 and there was 3 for 28 from Dilip Krishanand.
Scorecard