Hucknall winning run is halted by league leaders Kimberley Institute

Put into bat, Kimberley made 193-3 in 31.2 overs before rain halted proceedings.

Akhil Patel (25) and Jack Nightingale (36) put on an opening stand of 60 and Derbyshire star Leus Du Plooy (59 not out) and younger brother Ximus Du Plooy (56) then moved things on apace, adding 93 for the third wicket.

Hucknall were set a revised target of 234 from 31 overs under Duckworth Lewis but ended up 161 all out in 28 overs. Sam Johnson made 34 and Mathew Roberts 24 while Leus Du Plooy claimed 4-29 off four overs.

“There was not a lot between the teams, though maybe we were not quite sharp enough on the day,” said captain Sam Johnson.

“But a lot of factors went against us with the weather and the conditions. It seemed to favour Kimberley like water getting on the wicket after they had batted.”

A narrow four run win at West Bridgfordians saw Papplewick & Linby reclaim fourth place.

There remains two points between the top three and four points between the next five sides in the battle for fourth place.

Electing to bat, Papplewick made 171-6 off 42 overs with Harry Ratcliffe 58 not out, Callum Mckenzie 32, and Matthew Montgomery 31 before the rain.

Bridgfordians’ revised target was 174 from 43 overs but they ended just short on 169-5 with Ben Shaw making 47, Alex Winiarski 37, Zac Rahman 30; Montgomery taking 3-41 off nine.

Papplewick & Linby host Kimberley on Saturday and Hucknall are at home to Cavaliers & Carrington.

Papplewick captain Ben Trevor-Jones said: “With our next three games against the top three and after three losses, it was important for our confidence that we won on Saturday.

“We still have largely the same players as last summer and we pushed those top three then, so there's no reason we shouldn't this time and that is our focus.”