THE frustration was palpable as yet another Saturday took a hit from the weather, and nowhere more so than at Roseworth Terrace where South North lost their joint leadership of the NEPL because of the rain.
The Bulls looked in total control of their match against the Academy, with Jimmy Miller (74no), Stephen Humble (63no) and Chris Hewison (50) helping power them to 276-5 in 54 overs.
But they could only get 17 overs at the youngsters, who stood on 62-3 at the close, a result which left South North with just 11 points.
Somehow the Cestrians managed to get to the 25-over point in the second innings at Ropery Lane despite the ODI just one mile away being washed out. That enabled them to collect 16 points from their draw and move five ahead of the Bulls with one to play. The positive side for the Gosforth outfit was the fact that, in a game where 177 minutes playing time were lost, Chester-le-Street were on the brink of victory when play ended, with South Shields having crashed to 47-8 in reply to the Cestrians’ 243-9.
An opening stand of 103 between Quentin Hughes (56) and Simon Birtwisle (44) set Chester on the way to their impressive total, John Coxon unbeaten on 58 when the declaration came after 52 overs. Richard Waite (4-25 from 12 overs) and Andrew Smith (3-10 from 6) then sliced through Shields to leave them teetering. Only one game reached a conclusion, and that was on Teesside where Hetton Lyons were mightily impressive as they steam rollered Stockton to a 187-run defeat.
Kamran Shah (49) and Shaun Birbeck (48) got Hetton off to a flier in an opening stand of 98, and then Gary Scott smashed 5 fours and 3 sixes in a brilliant unbeaten century that lifted his team to a daunting 290-4. Stockton then capitulated for 103 as Ryan Pringle (6-52) continued his outstanding form.
Victory took the Lyons up to fourth in the table, but that will be as high as they go as Blaydon will finish third after their home draw against Newcastle. The game ended after Blaydon had put on 211-9, although that represented a great recovery as they had been 75-6 at one stage. Graeme Bridge (69 in 115 balls) and Chris Varley (50 in 56 balls) performed the rescue act with a club record seventh wicket partnership of 112.
In the other washouts Zohaib Khan cracked 94 from 84 balls, sharing in a third wicket stand of 159 with Mark Dale (80no) as Benwell Hill reached 218-3 against Tynemouth, and Sunderland were 256-7 at Gateshead Fell, with Danny Shurben getting 80 of those before time was called.
