On a miserable wet afternoon, when only one of the seven Premier League games survived, Richmondshire came close to achieving an unlikely win only to finish with less points than Darlington, who managed to play for just an hour before home.

The Dalesmen were at Redcar where the players were happy to show patience before taking an early tea in the hope that the rain clouds would sweep away. It was worth the wait.

Twenty overs had been bowled by Richmond before the break so Redcar, on 45 for three, still had 30 overs to put together a challenging score. Opener Tom Urwin’s contribution, a composed 25, made sure the visiting bowlers had to work hard and with Callum Brown (19) and Mohammed Zahid (18) chipping in, Redcar reached 121-8 by the end of their 50 overs.

This would have normally been a romp in the park for Richmond but, in circumstances where so much time has been lost, the team batting second is penalised by loss of overs. It meant that the Dalesmen had only 13 in which to pull off a victory. Needing more than nine runs an over was a tall order, but they came close.

Mike Layfield went early, but a second wicket stand between skipper Gary Pratt (37) and new professional Toby Bulcock (21) took the score to 50 in the sixth over leaving 71 runs required from 42 balls.

But the pressure started to tell and Pratt went for one of his many big hits, missed the wily Zahid’s delivery and was stumped – so the course of the game changed. He was the dominant partner in a stand of 52. Two more wickets fell quickly to leave the visitors on 63 for 4 and the most significant was Bulcock’s departure, a second stumping for Dave Skipsey who had been drafted in from the third team. Sam Wood was next to go, a first ball duck after being brilliantly caught one-handed from his own bowling by Sam Berry.

Big-hitter Craig Swainston was Richmond’s last hope of tipping the scales back in their favour and for a short spell it looked as if he might be the match-winner. His quickfire 25 included successive boundaries, one a massive six. But Zahid bowled him to put an end to hopes of an amazing victory. It was too late when another six took the score to 100.

Zahid, the hosts’ veteran pro, finished with 3-37 from five overs with Berry (2-22 from three) and Dale Metcalfe (1-42) bowling the other five overs. For Richmond, Swainston completed a great all-round display with 2-38 from 14 overs while Rob West (3-20 from seven overs) had the best individual figures of the match.

The Dalesmen’s points return was seven, just one more than they would have been awarded if they had packed up and called off the match after the first stoppage some six hours earlier.

Redcar, after being inserted by their opponents when losing the toss and rain was in the air, were delighted they stayed around as they registered ten points.

There was major disappointment at Feethams when the game was called off following a tremendous start by Darlington. The champions had taken four Marton wickets for 27 with Doug Mulholland’s bowling well suited to the conditions. He took three for 13 in seven overs. Just 13 overs in total were possible in the hour before the rain saturated everything.

Norton had an excellent start in making 49-1 against Barnard Castle. It was the first home match for the Teessiders but it lasted just 18 overs. Marske’s game against Hartlepool lasted four overs in which they scored 13 runs without loss.

Middlesbrough (43-0) at Great Ayton had James Lowe, one of last weekend’s three century makers, looking good for another big knock when the game was abandoned, while at Stokesley, after being put into bat, Normanby Hall had reached 37 from 12 without losing a wicket when it was called off. At Seaton Carew, where Guisborough travelled, no play was possible.