Keaton Jennings was given the day off by Durham, and Tynemouth paid a heavy price as 2013 champions Stockton thrashed them by 205 runs to head the fledgling Dukes ECB North-East Regional Premier League table alongside the only other victorious team, Chester-le-Street.

Jennings carried his bat through the home innings, making an unbeaten 105 from 112 balls, and his calming influence held the Teessiders together as they tottered for a while on 139-6.

Peter Howells then crashed a rapid half century from the number nine slot to lift Stockton to a more impressive 275-8, setting up Jennings to blast out the hapless visitors with a nine over burst in which he bagged 5-17.

There was another quality all-round performance at Gateshead Fell where the Cestrians had 67 runs to spare in their victory.

It was one-way traffic as Street blasted 276-4 before declaring after 50 overs, opener George Harrison making a relatively sedate 73, and captain John Coxon including 11 boundaries in an undefeated 66. But former skipper Quentin Hughes grabbed the headlines, following up a half century with five wickets as last year’s strugglers slumped from 88-1 to 209 all out.

The other four top-flight games ended in stalemate, although not before the League’s leading career run scorer, Allan Worthy, added another 119 runs to his burgeoning aggregate.

He hit 12 fours and four sixes and carried his bat as Hetton Lyons amassed a 60-over total of 252-6 at South Shields. But the newly-promoted hosts gave the run chase a real go before closing on 241-9, Aussie Tim David top scoring with 85.

It was tough for Tudhoe on their Division One debut. They found life at the higher level a real challenge as Sacriston, who suggested in pre-season that they were concentrating more on survival than a promotion challenge, won emphatically.

In a real team performance Sacriston scored 218 inside 54 overs, and then dismantled their visitors for 112. Individual honours were shared around, although new signing Lee Murray enjoyed a great debut with 4-22.

The other new kids on the NEPL block, Burnmoor, faced a tough challenge at Felling where their hosts appeared to have recruited well. But Moor were equal to that challenge, holding their nerve in a low scoring game to win by 15 runs.

The game of the day in the second tier came at Eppleton where visitors Boldon set a target of 228-7 made in 50 overs, new skipper Joe Coyne top scoring with 60. Eppleton looked to be steaming towards victory as Kyle Davis cracked 116 from 128 balls, but then came a late collapse that was inexplicable.

From 226-5, with just three needed for victory, the home team lost four wickets for two runs and the game ended level, Coyne enjoying the perfect day as he added four wickets to his earlier runs, and then ran out Zaheer Shahbaz from the final ball.

Ryan Nicholson made 130 not out from 157 balls on debut for Brandon as they beat Sunderland by six wickets. Trent Mais, another debutant, starred for Washington with five wickets in a nine-wicket win over South Hetton, and Willington had six wickets to spare as they overcame Seaham Harbour.

In the NTSL there were big wins for Shotley Bridge and Swalwell who overwhelmed Ponteland and Percy Main respectively.

Like his brother Paul, Peter Collingwood has talked about retiring at the end of this season. And just like his revered sibling he showed there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet by starting out with a glorious 121 from 119 balls and sharing an opening partnership worth 213 with Kieran Milburn (80 from 100 balls).

Shotley amassed 356-6 to puncture Ponteland, the deflated visitors closing out on 176-7 to lose by 180 runs.

New signing Lee Innes took just 38 balls to make an unbeaten 75 for Swalwell, his blazing knock lifting his new teammates to 258-5, and Guy Saxton ended Ponteland’s hopes with a 12-over burst of five for 26 as the seven-times champions won by 190 runs.

There were two centuries at Lanchester where Ashington pro Anirudh Singh hit ten fours and five sixes on his way to 129 out of 270-2. Greg Patterson then blasted 121 to ease the hosts to an impressive six-wicket victory with one over remaining.