Asked to bat first, the Methodists lost an early wicket to the bowling of Michael Nevers (2–34), but then got going with Wayne Higgins (26) and Craig Eyles (27) putting on a solid 57 for the second. Eyles hit five fours in his entertaining knock and was then replaced by stand-in ’keeper, Alex Nash, who kept up the tempo with a punchy 35.
Nash fell to Chris Britt-Searle (2–42), with the total on 137–4 in the 23rd over, leaving the Methodists’ skipper, Stuart Green and son, James, to maintain the visitors’ positive approach.
Their stand of 64 took the team to 201, when Cowboys’ Captain, Ian Higgins (3–26) finally removed Green Jr for a well-made 32. Stuart then used the final few overs to bump the score up to a very handy 240–7, leaving the field unbeaten with 72 valuable runs as the innings came to a close.
The Cowboys suffered an early blow after tea, losing Evan Gibbons to injury as he was just starting to get the scoreboard ticking over. However, Justin Avery and Neil Boulton kept up the pressure on the fielding side, adding 69 for the second wicket in good time, and keeping the Cowboys in the game.
Boulton (68) and Britt-Searle (29) put on another 58 runs as the Methodists struggled to make a breakthrough, but all the time the required rate was creeping upwards and eventually the scoreboard pressure told. Eyles (2–31) was instrumental in the Cowboys’ eventual downfall, claiming two wickets and a run-out before Green Sr (2–27) and the excellent James Sackett (2–23) wound up the innings – the Methodists finishing up the winners by a margin of 51 runs as the home team ended on 189–8.
Daniel Shearn