On Saturday the 1st XI travelled to Darlington, running up a total of 240 for 6, Matty McKiernan hitting 87 and Bob Carr 78.
In their reply, Darlington fell well short of the Richmondshire total but were not bowled out. Josh Dowson took 3 for 33 and James Kelly 2 for 11, the 16 points picked up for a winning draw were not enough to take the 1st XI to the top of the table as Middlesbrough secured the maximum possible 25 points for their win.
The 2nd XI were at home to Darlington seconds, their score of 173 for 8, with a fifty for Andy Fleming and 40 for Clive Layfield looked at one stage as if it would be enough as Darlington slipped to 40 for 4. Dropped catches were the team’s downfall as Callum Lethridge led a Darlington recovery, assisted by ex Richmondshire junior Toby Lush, to take them to a three wicket victory.
The 4th XI were at home to Middleton St George. A team rather scratched together at the last minute secured an unexpectedly big victory, with fifties from Julius Glasgow and Dion Wood and some late thrashing from Nigel Winter taking their total past 200. A fine spell of spin bowling from Dion Wood saw MSG bowled out for just under 100 in reply.
On Sunday the 1st XI had another fixture, home to South Northumberland in the ECB National Knockout Cup, which “South North” had won in 2016. The match was reduced to 32 overs a side after a delayed start because overnight rain had got under the covers of the used pitch. Batting proved challenging on the turning wicket, South North were bowled out for 124, with spinners Matty McKiernan, Craig Marshall and James Kelly all going for less than three runs an over and taking seven wickets between them. Richmondshire overtook the South North total with four wickets and seven balls left, thanks to an innings of 47 not out off 65 balls from Mike Layfield.
At the same time on Sunday, the third XI was playing in Darlington in a 20 over cup fixture. They won by 27 runs, with Andy Dade scoring 30 not out from 14 balls, and with four wins out of four sit at the top of the table in their mini league.
