The top three Premier Division teams all drew their home games.

Leaders Barnard Castle amassed 309-4 at home to Darlington, with skipper James Quinn scoring a majestic 127 from 111 balls, which included 13 fours and five sixes. Hashan Dumindu made 50 and opener Alasdair Appleby helped himself to 46, with Richard Borrowdale adding 61 not out.

Darlington were in bother early at 66-4, as Giles Creedon took 3-38, but they made 189-6 to earn the draw, after Alex Metcalfe scored 31 and skipper Paul Freary batted well for 71 not out.

Great Ayton welcomed struggling Bishop Auckland to Leven Park and decided to bat first after winning the toss. They totaled 212-5, thanks mainly to Chris Batchelor who made a fine 100no, with Mitchell Davis adding 33 and Michael Croft a hard hitting 60 not out, with Nimesh Vimukthi the pick of the bowling as he took 3-55.

Bishops had to rely on skipper Scott Oldfield, as he batted well, for 55 and Danny Hardaker 27, to just see their team to the draw, finishing on 158-9. Ayton gleaned 16 points to stay second.

Richmondshire entertained Marton at Hurgill Road and scored 229-8 batting first. Skipper Gary Pratt led the way with 99 from 118 balls, which included nine fours and Mathew Cowling scored 31, alongside Robert Carr who made 30. Muhammed Zahid took 3-57 in his 12 overs.

Marton started the run chase well, Jonny Spillane scoring 30, Luke De Vileg 53, Chris Allinson 37 and Aamer Sajjad 39, and at one stage they looked favourites to pull off the win, but Sam Wood had other ideas as he took 4-49 and was backed up by James Kelly, with 3-68 and the visitors ended up on 212-8, to earn the draw.

In another draw, Thornaby welcomed Stokesley to Acklam Road, who won the toss and took first knock, scoring 175 all out. Jeremy Boyle made 53 and Neil Coverdale 29, but they were kept in check by Daniel Chillingworth who returned 4-36 and Shrikant Wagh 3-43.

Stokesley’s top six batsman got themselves into double figures, but only Jonny Weighell (30) and Shrikant Wagh (47 not out), pushed on. The home side had Tharindu Rathnayake to thank for the draw, as he took an excellent 4-23 from 15 overs.

In the relegation battles at the wrong end of the league, there were crucial wins for both Seaton Carew and Hartlepool.

Seaton journeyed to Marske, won the toss and decided to bat first.

They rattled up 267-2, mainly thanks to professional Usman Arshad who cracked 162 runs from 143 balls, which included 21 fours and two sixes. Opener Mathew Skirving scored 83 from 133 balls, which included 10 fours.

Marske started well in reply, with opener Jozef Wing scoring 56 and Thomas Hales adding 40, but skipper Paul Braithwaite led the bowlers taking 3-41, alongside Neil Whitworth with 4-46 and Usman Arshad 3-50 to complete a crucial 25-point win.

Hartlepool also won the toss at Acklam Park and decided to bat against Middlesbrough. They scored 226-6, thanks to opener James Lowe who tormented his former club. He made 108 from 136 balls, which included 16 fours and a six.

John Watson added 31 and Tyler Temple 33, while Leigh Beaumont was the pick of the bowling, returning 3-63.

Boro started badly and were 9-2 as Doug Mulholland returned 4-43, but Mark Gleeson dug in for 69 off 106 balls, Leigh Beaumont 39 from 40 balls and Adam Beaumont made 33 from 35, but Dale Metcalfe won the game for Pools, when he took 3-25 near the end.