Sunderland's Singh leaves South Shields battered and bruised

Daniel Shurben also made 77, as the duo put on 176 together for the second wicket.

Jaspreet Singh then made 31 off 22 balls, with Christopher Dorothy claiming 3-68.

In reply, South Shields were in trouble early on at 31-4 and 56-5, as Quinton Boatswain ripped up their top order claiming 4-51.

Shields were eventually all out for 149, with Rupesh Borade scoring 45 and Christopher Dorothy 41, alongside Nabeel Aziz who made 35.

Mark Turner and Jaspreet Singh then cleaned the tail up, taking two wickets apiece.

Brandon remain second after a narrow six run defeat at Washington.

The home side made 167 all out, thanks mainly to Adam Hickey scoring 30 and Joe Thompson’s 56 not out.

Jordan Grosert with 3-36 and Gordon Muchall taking 3-43, were the pick of the bowlers.

The visitors lost wickets at regular intervals, but Chris Peareth tried hard with 32 not out, but Adam Hickey returned 4-47, in their final total of 161-7.

Willington knocked off the 206 runs required with ease, for the loss of just one wicket at home to Blaydon.

Castle Eden were easy 148 run winners at home to Gateshead Fell.

Alan Unsworth with 55, Saeed Bin Nasir with 59 not out and a cracking 81 from Keith Bailey, allowed them to declare at 255-4.

Gateshead, with 107 all out, never recovered from Keith Bailey’s opening spell of 3-15 and with Richard Ede alongside Jeremy Warner, both claiming three wickets, the end was inevitable.

Boldon travelled to Burnopfield and lost by 84 runs, which meant the hosts remained at the top of the league.

However, at 86-5, the home side were in trouble as Barry McCarthy returned 4-40 and Jonathan Shakespeare and Nicholas Sampson-Barnes, each took two wickets.

However, Callum Thorp cracked 69 and John Oswell made 38, to take their score up to 198 all out.

Boldon then collapsed when batting, thanks to a 6-18 return from Gareth Breese, off 14.2 overs, with Thorpe adding 2-10 off 10 overs, with only skipper Chris Ellison resisting with 39 at the top of the order.

In the Premier Division, Durham Academy entertained Stockton at the Emirates Stadium and Luke Doneathy (3-27) had them reeling at 31-3, as he took three quick wickets.

Adam Ahmed (4-16) then made things worse for the Teessiders, taking a further four wickets, to reduce them to 114-7.

Joe Hewison did well to hang around for 46, including seven fours, in their total of 135 all out.

The Academy in reply cruised to an eight-wicket win, thanks to Solomon Bell scoring 48 and Paul Greenwell making 76 not out, putting on 91 together and they ended up totalling 137-2.

Chester-le-Street scored 261-3 declared, when asked to bat first at home to bottom club Felling.

Opener Kyle Davis scored 80, with contributions from Andrew Smith (39), an excellent 93 from Jacob McCann and a breezy 30 from Quentin Hughes.

In reply, the visitors dug in for the draw, with Josh Eaton scoring 88 not out, including 13 fours and Phil Mustard, who made 48, with Stephen Cantwell the pick of the bowling with 3-44.

Sacriston lost heavily at Benwell Hill, after the home side racked up 246-8 declared.

Hetton Lyons are third, following a 72 run win at Newcastle.

The Lyons scored 225-9, with Stuart Walker making 82 and Jarvis Clay 46, with a quick-fire 30 coming from ben Whitehead, while Jacques Du Toit returned 4-63 with the ball.

In reply, Newcastle could not cope with Jonathan Malkin’s opening spell of 5-44 and then Cameron Greenwood claimed 3-25, to win the match, despite 31 from Alexander Simpson.

Eppleton had a stirring win at Whitburn, chasing down 240 to win, in their innings of 244-8.

Although Craig Smith was excellent early on claiming 4-88, Marcus Brown with 31, Josh Coughlin with 38 and a 90 run partnership from Dean Musther (65no) and Craig Scurr (64), eased them home by two wickets.

Earlier, Jackson Edmondstone (84) and Chris McBryde (40), had put on 108 for the first wicket, with Craig Smith adding 43 not out and Paul Shields 33 not out, with Joseph Coyne taking an excellent 5-40, from 15 overs in a total of 240-7.

South North had to settle for a draw at Tynemouth, but remain top by four clear points.

The visitors made 228-9 declared, with Simon Birtwisle scoring 60, John Graham 42 and skipper Adam Cragg made 30.

Tynemouth lost regular early wickets early on in their innings and settled for the draw, with Mark Watt scoring 73 and Sean Longstaff 57 not out, in their total of 189-8.