The solid opening partnership of A.Eyre and S.Bhatt failed on this occasion with the early loss of Bhatt (14).

With the loss of two more wickets Cross were struggling on 70-3 at the half way stage.

After drinks A.Eyre (47) was dismissed and Cross were now getting bogged down on a very slow, low wicket at 75-4.

However, Paul Lemon and Bill Hartley (25) slowly but surely brought Cross back into the game with some sensible batting.

With ten overs remaining Cross had reached 110 but had not lost any more wickets, giving themselves a chance of a decent total.

Cross eventually finished with a respectable 173-6, with Lemon (52 n.o) guiding them through to the end.

Cross bowlers were again out of the traps with some accuarate bowling and Duffield were in all sorts of trouble at 24-4, which included a run out from Cross youngster J.Burrows with only one stump to hit.

However, Cross let this game slip by as Phil Jordan (65 n.o) was dropped very early on in his excellent knock and took Duffield to a creditable draw.

Duffield eventually ended up on 133-7, but Cross will look back at this game and will be kicking themselves for not coming away with maximum points.

But the day ended well for Cross as news filtered through that all their nearest rivals were beaten and are now 50 points clear at the top of Division 2 North.

Pilsley 238-5, Butterley 123 all out

Pilsley continued their promotion push with a 115-run over Butterley.

Butterley won the toss and put Pilsley into bat and looked to be in charge as they took two early wickets.

Chris Worthy and Abdul Suliman (20) steadied the ship until Abdul was stumped well by keep A.Beardsley.

This brought Steve Roberts to the crease and along with Worthy they made the most of some wayward bowling from the away side.

The pair looked to be heading towards a century partnership until Roberts was caught at mid wicket for 49.

Worthy continued to score well and he was well supported by Matt Lawrence and Andy Burke and he continued to make an excellent 115 not out including 20 off one over off opening bowler Holmes.

Butterley's chase never gained any momentum and they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Young Jack Warsop took career best figures of 3-19 while opening bowler Tom Ellerton continued his good form taking 2-30 from his ten overs.

Pilsley's other wicket takers were Matt Lawrence (2-4), Del McHenry (1-2) and Chris Worthy (2-17).

Calow Sunday XI 102-4, Holmewood 101

The Cavaliers went into this week's fixture knowing a win would move them up to second in the table.

Holmewood won the toss and decided to bat first on a damp wicket at Oaks Farm Lane.

This was looking to be a good choice as they made a solid start with opener A. Hewitt (29) and number three R. Garfoot (32) putting together a good partnership.