Division 4

Willoughby ‘A’ (89 for 6 – 20 pts) beat Flecknoe (88 for 7 – 5 pts) by 4 wickets

Saturday's local derby at The Green went the way of the home side after a tense low scoring affair.

Willoughby won the toss and put Flecknoe into bat where the visitors found runs hard to come by in the face of some economical home bowling. The opening partnership yielded 38 runs before a run out brought the opening breakthrough just before the halfway point of the innings and after a short rain and drinks break. With the Flecknoe run rate still low somewhere between one and two runs an over, a low target looked in prospect. Matt Binder attempted to up the rate but the visitors despite some late hitting took matters to 88 for 7 off their reduced allotted 39 overs. Opener Craig Leighton top scored for Flecknoe with 17 as Karl Quinney returned figures of 3 for 31 from an unbroken 12 over stint, whilst skipper Martin Nichols took 2 for 18.

On paper then one would have thought a straight forward target to chase. However, in reply, Willoughby found the going equally as difficult as Flecknoe's opening pair of Simon Morris and Tom Pewtress backed by a vocal outfield exploited the conditions to good effect. The hosts lost wickets cheaply and were struggling at 25 for 4 reaching the halfway point; Morris returning 2 for 15 and Pewtress 2 for 17 from their 12 overs in tandem. Willoughby skipper Nichols then showed his experience to chip away at the total from the remaining overs and with Ryan Perry forged an ultimately winning partnership. With the overs counting down, some decent hitting and quick running saw them bring Willoughby home with just over two overs to spare; Nichols unbeaten on 32, Perry on 22 with the hosts taking the honours by 4 wickets.