BASSETLAW LEAGUE ROUND-UP: Clipstone skipper Wilson hits ton in battle of big guns

A total of 520 runs were scored on an entertaining afternoon when, at long last, the rain stayed away. And Wilson’s knock of 105 helped Clipstone to a winning draw and 16 points that cemented second spot in the table, 13 behind leaders Farnsfield, while Thoresby took ten points to join Papplewick and Linby in third place, 23 off top spot.

Thoresby were soon made to regret their decision to put Clipstone in as Wilson made hay along with Craig Brittlebank, who cracked 88. Opener David Willcock added 32 and the hosts amassed 276, despite three late wickets apiece for fifth and sixth change-bowlers Mitchell English and Rehan Ahmed.

Clipstone batted well too and never looked in danger of defeat. But they finished just short of their target on 244-6 after fine contributions from Muhammad Yasar (57), Azar Hussain (43), skipper Lee Willis (40) and Naeem Ahmed (34).

Meanwhile Farnsfield raced to their eighth outright victory of the season by licking Notts and Arnold Amateurs by 99 runs at Station Lane. Choosing to bat first, they totalled 242 on the back of a terrific opening stand between Matthew Sisson (77) and Andrew Bell (42), plus a vital 61 from captain Curtis Mitchell.

A five-wicket haul from Ben Scott (5-50 in 11.1 overs) hauled Amateurs back into contention, but their batting wasn’t up to scratch and they slid to 143 all out against solid bowling by Sam Routledge, Dave Loveridge, Bell and Call McKenzie, each of whom bagged a couple of wickets.

At Papplewick Hall, Papplewick and Linby suffered a blow to their title chances with a five-wicket defeat against Retford, who are now a clear fifth in the table and not without a squeak for honours themselves.

Despite runs from Harry Ratcliffe (50) and Leon Botha (40), Papplewick could never quite get on top of the visitors’ bowling attack, and four late wickets for Wayne Spooner (4-17) meant their final total of 214-8 was below par. Retford duly polished it off with 13 balls to spare thanks to 58 from Kirk Edwards and healthy contributions from all their other batsmen.

In the day’s other three Championship fixtures, there were wins for Edwinstowe, Anston and North Wheatley with Leverton.

Edwinstowe rolled over struggling Worksop for just 157, despite 43 for Ross Wicks. Most of the wickets were shared by Simon Walton (4-28) and Yashan Samarasinghe (3-28) before the hosts eased to their target with five wickets in hand, thanks chiefly to 47 from Adam Dutton and 44 from Thomas Ward.

Anston took a low-scoring contest at home to Glapwell Colliery, despite being restricted to 145. They skittled Glapwell for 124, with Amila Perera, who had earlier hit 40 with the bat, taking 4-31 and Josh Littlewood 3-25.

Wheatley became the latest side to defeat bottom-of-the-table Whitwell, hitting 237, of which Luke Tong made 88, before bowling out the hosts for 139 for a 98-run success.