Rothley land stunning win

Leicestershire duo Tom Nightingale and Atif Sheikh were in inspired form as Rothley Park inflicted a rare defeat on leaders Kibworth.

Academy all-rounder Nightingale smashed an unbeaten 99 as Rothley recovered from losing four wickets to post 232-4 before Sheikh took 3-53 as the hosts held their nerve to land a thrilling 3-run victory.

Aadil Ali, who earlier bowled ten overs for 37, scored 28 in the chase but Sheikh crucially claimed the wicket of his Leicestershire teammate wicket as part of an excellent performance.

Nightingale then claimed the final wicket to cap off a terrific afternoon for Rothley.

The result allowed Loughborough Town and Lutterworth to make up some ground as they both landed 25-point victories.

Ollie Freckingham took 3-38 as Syston were restricted to 212-9 and Rishi Patel struck 107 as Loughborough won by four wickets.

Jigar Naik (56) was again in form for Sileby Town but Lutterworth cruised to a seven-wicket success as Michael Turns hit an unbeaten 75. Lewis Hill earlier claimed five catches and a stumping for Lutts.

Both sides made up 18 points on Kibworth, but the leaders still have a 74-point lead on Loughborough and 85 points on Lutterworth with just five games to go.

The Crowe brothers were in good form for Hinckley Town/CCA but Leicester Ivanhoe won an excellent contest by two wickets.

Craig scored 77 and Leicestershire Second XI coach Carl made exactly 50 as Hinckley were bowled out for 280 with two balls remaining.

Ivanhoe got home from the very last delivery thansk to a number of contributions including Academy duo Sam Evans (45) and Harry Swindells (29), while Carl Crowe took two wickets for the visitors. Stephen Punchard (66) and James Kirkham (49) were also in the runs for Ivanhoe.

The result was a big one for Ivanhoe, who moved clear of Hinckley in the race for Premier League survival.

Market Harborough had a winning draw against Earl Shilton, Zak Chappell leading the way for the hosts with a half-century.

Matt Stokes, who has been playing for Leicestershire Second XI in 2016, took three wickets for the visitors. Earl Shilton closed on 201-9 despite a score of 40 from Sibeet Hussain.

Academy all-round Will Fazackerley was again in fine fettle but Barkby United suffered a defeat at Barrow Town, for whom Ramesh Kara struck a superb 135 in a total of 272.

Barkby responded with 207, of which Fazackerley contributed the highest score of 78.