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WITH Guisborough grabbing back top spot in one of the tightest championship scrambles for many a year, the highlight of the weekend was the intriguing individual battle to see who will be the first batsman to reach the distinguished 1,000 runs landmark.

Three players – Middlesbrough’s Paul Johnston, Northallerton’s Teddy Parida and Great Ayton’s Chris Batchelor – are all in the running with 2,182 runs scored between them, each with 13 innings completed. Johnston is the favourite with 804 having boosted his rating with a superb unbeaten 151 against Marske on Saturday.

Parida is 65 runs behind despite inspiring Northallerton to their second win of the season, and Batchelor, with 639 runs, might have been better placed his team’s match hadn’t been abandoned when rain closed in earlier than anywhere.

Johnston’s sizzling knock came at Acklam Park from an amazing 99 balls with 22 fours and two sixes as Boro totalled 274-4 before a 36-over declaration. He shared in partnerships of 91 with Liam Botham (33), 83 with Tom Hodgson (37) and 70 with his skipper, James Lowe (31).

Rain and bad light cut the game short after Marske first crawled to 31-2 from 15 overs and then accelerated to finish on 102-2 with a stand of 91 between Gary Lynch (44 not out) and Chris Allinson (41 not out).

The top of the table meeting at Guisborough saw Marton concede the league leadership to their opponents after just six days of elevation. The Priory club posted 232-7 with Tariq Aziz hitting a splendid 135 with ten fours and five sixes.

Martin Hood was second highest scorer with 30 against his old team for whom Graham Shaw (4-98 from 21 overs) and Dean Kirby (3-95 from 23 overs) were made to work overtime.

Marton’s reply was hit by a shaky start losing four wickets for just 63 runs before Chris Veazey (56) and then Shaw (50 not out) made sure they saved the game.

But the three point lead Marton enjoyed before the match was lost and Guisborough now have a two point advantage.

Billingham are deep in relegation trouble after they lost for the seventh time.

They were beaten by Bishop Auckland by 89 runs after Gary Pratt hit a whirlwind 117 with 86 in boundaries. His first 50 runs came from 27 balls and the century from 82. He shared in a stand of 128 with Dan Conway, his fellow professional, who made 63.

Bishops (236-7) then bowled out the Synners for 147, with Dan Conway (5-36) and Chris Sawyer (4-45) shared the bowling success for Bishops.

Northallerton’s worries at the foot of the table eased with their first win in 10 against Normanby Hall.

Parida’s 63 provided the excellent backbone to an innings of 144-3 in 35.5 overs after Normanby, without six of their regular players, had been unable to score freely from the offerings of Jon Barnes (3-37 in 25 overs).

The win, by seven wickets, lifted them 40 points clear of the bottom with Normanby moving down to share 12th place with them.

Hartlepool beat Blackhall in a game where Warren Swan made 80 of their modest total of 159. Marc Symington (6-63 from 19.2 overs) and Janaka Gunaratne (3-38) became Pool’s bowling stars. Chris Fawcett (69 not out) top scored as Hartlepool won by eight wickets.

The game between Richmondshire (214-7, including 88 from Shani Dissanayake) and Thornaby (81-1) was hit by multiple rain stoppages, and Darlington’s visit to Great Ayton (87-1) was washed out after only 20 overs.

In Division One, Barnard Castle took back the lead from Stokesley to spoil a week in which they had beaten two premier league teams in the Kerridge Cup.

Stokesley’s game was washed out by the rain while Barney grabbed a vital victory to give them a tenpoint advantage at the top.