Burnmoor lead the way with a Hill win but Sunderland fall just short
In the Dukes ECB North East Premier League, Burnmoor are 19 points clear at the top as Benwell Hill decided to bat first in their game.
Waqas Mahmood struck early (4-22) and Ryan Pringle chipped in with 3-12 to reduce them to 89 all out.
The Hill then reduced the home side to 22-3, but Ross Greenwell (39no) and Stuart Poynter (29no) got them home for the win on 90-3.
Chester-le-Street won the toss and asked their opponents South Northumberland to bat first.
They made steady progress with a number of batsmen getting in, then out. However, skipper Adam Cragg cracked 83 not out from 57 balls to get them up to 217-6.
The Cestrians in reply, had Jacob McCann in fine form as he made 55 runs, then Kyle Coetzer scored a matchwinning 73 not out to steer them to victory on 221-4.
Sunderland travelled to Tynedale, who won the toss and batted first.
They lost wickets regularly, but Euan Stephenson made 36 and they managed a total of 190 all out.
Opener Jack Johnson then batted well for 61 runs, but Nathan Byerley pegged them back with an excellent 6-39 and they ended up on 183-9, just eight runs short.
Castle Eden took first knock at Parklands against visiting Ashington and collapsed to 82 all out, Matthew Collins with 4-32 and Jeremiah Louis 3-35 doing the damage.
Bilawal Iqbal in reply struck early blows (3-36), but Jack Jessop made 40 not out to see his side to victory on 85-3.
Newcastle batted first at home to Burnopfield and opener Ben Robinson made 58 and Jacques Du
Toit scoring a splendid 73, while Amaan Ulhaq claimed 3-37, Callum Brown 3-47 and Daniel Hogg 3-15, in a total of 207 all out.
The visitors then lost early wickets (56-4), however, Hogg with the bat made 30, but Mohsin Mukhtar and Du Toit shared six wickets between them and bowled them out for 125 runs.
Felling decided to bat first at Tynemouth and Travis Norris fired 68 and Tyler Easton 45 as they put on 94 runs for the second wicket. They pushed on and Sebastian Allison scored 80 from 54 balls and Edward Hurst was 32 not out, as they posted a very useful 267-7.
Opener Matthew
Kimmett made 40 in reply, then Ben Debnam scored
39, Robbie Bowman 81 not out and Matthew Brown 92 not out, as they put on an unbroken stand of 168 runs to win the game on 271-2.
In Division One, Seaham Park lead the way at the top after piling up the runs at Philadelphia, as Thomas Nicholson made 65, Dale Shaw cracked 68 and Johnny Forster 48 in a final total of 243 all out, despite Matthew Robinson taking an excellent 5-30.
Phili then replied with 184-7, as Riley Blunt hit 64 and Mani Murasingh 40, but Shaw with the ball and Virat Singh shared six wickets in their victory.
Shotley Bridge are second, as they chased down a big score at home to Lanchester. Kieron Gohery made (31), Luke McCabe 61 and then Greg Patterson smashed 103 from 92 balls, which included six fours and eight sixes taking their side to 250-6, with Joe Gibson taking 3-41.
However, it was not enough, as Shotley had Paul Greenwell making 70 and Reece Carr 94 not out in a winning total of 251-4.
Seaham Harbour totalled 188 all out at home to Willington, with Jack Burnham scoring a vital 70 and Ian Pattison 77 not out, while Kashif Ali claimed 4-29 and Phoenix Ashworth 4-33. The visitors were then all out for 174 in a close game, with Patrick Gouge scoring 49 and James Hindmarsh 39, but Craig Marshall claimed 3-27 and victory by just 14 runs.
Praveen Da Silva batted well for Eppleton at Hetton Lyons, scoring 47 not out in their total of 141 all out, while Chris Ralston took 3-24 with the ball and Sagar Udeshi also took 3-24. The Lyons cruised home to victory though on 145-1, thanks to Stuart Walker with 66 not out and Gary Scott 51.
Nathan Hall made a splendid 127 for Sacriston at Whitburn off just 84 balls, which included 10 fours and nine sixes, in their total of 227 all out, while the home side were skittled for just 87 runs, as Jack Keall claimed 4-30 and Bryn Bursill 3-15.
Crook batted first at home to Gateshead Fell and were all out for just 89 runs, with Robbie Dawson doing the damage with 4-28. Paul Underwood then hit 33 and Michael Elliott 38 not out to win the game on 102-2.
In Division Two of the Readers Durham & North East Cricket League, it got no better for Horden as they suffered their third league defeat of the new campaign when losing to Murton by 45 runs.
Murton batted first and some middle-order resistance saw them work their way to 148 before being dismissed.
Adam Dixon was the pick of the Horden attack with 3 for 43 in his seven-over spell while Josh Wilson, Lewis Broom and Dale Laverick all picked up 2 wickets each.
In reply, Horden were going along nicely on 85 for 2 with just 64 runs needed to win with plenty of overs and eight wickets in hand, but sadly the middle-order collapse came into force.
Horden went from 85-2 to 87-6, losing their next four wickets for just two runs, and defeat was staring again in their eyes.
From 87-6 Horden were finally bowled out for 103, losing by 45 runs when at one time their chance to win their first game of the season was there for them.
Paul Dixon top scored with 29 while opener Gavin Peat made 24 and the other two players to reach double figures were Lewis Broom with 17 and Adam Dixon made 12.