Timsbury 3rds 139 all out v Methodists 140-6

A blustery afternoon saw Timsbury asked to bat first on a pitch which had seen plenty of rain in the previous ten days. This didn’t seem to perturb their opening batsmen though, as several early sixes had the scoreboard ticking over very nicely until wickets started to fall. Daniel Shearn (3-16) managed to find a way through to the stumps to dismiss three of the top four - Matthew Ball (36) the only man to go on to a meaningful score - but the middle-order of Hulbert, Smith, King and Bryant all reached double figures to help the hosts past the hundred mark. A combination of Stuart Green (2-5) and Alex Nash eventually wrapped things up for the Methodists, claiming the last three wickets with ten balls still remaining.

The Methodists’ reply stuttered early on with a run-out in the second over, but Jason Stotesbury and a belligerent Nash quickly got the chase back on track. While Russell King’s immaculate five overs with four maidens tied up one end, Nash was ruthlessly putting assorted bowlers to the sword at the other - his fifty coming up in just eighteen balls - and when he was finally dismissed for sixty in the ninth over, he had smashed seven 4s and five 6s. Stotesbury (27) continued in the same vein until he was brilliantly caught by Josh Bond-Kendall, which initiated a mini-collapse from 94-2 to 108-5. Matt Bryant (3-18) had briefly put the match back in the balance, but some assured batting from Dave Sackett and Howard Jones made sure the visitors reached their target with sixteen overs to spare.