Willoughby welcomed Rushton to The Green under glorious sunshine, with temperatures soaring and the outfield baking throughout the afternoon. After losing the toss, skipper Ben Hollis had little choice but to slap on the sun cream and send his side into the field first.

The innings could not have started better for the hosts as Mark Fell ripped through the top order immediately. Producing two wickets in two balls in the opening over, Fell mixed a trademark low full toss with a beautiful away-swinging delivery to leave Rushton reeling at 1 for 2.

To their credit, the visitors dug in and slowly rebuilt, but Willoughby’s bowling attack continued to chip away regularly. Hollis and Oliver kept the pressure firmly on throughout the middle overs, while Fergus Deery once again proved miserly with the ball, steaming in with ferocious pace and giving absolutely nothing away.

Willoughby’s bowling figures reflected a disciplined all-round effort:

Mark Fell — 3 for 39 from 8.4 overs
Ryan Haynes — 1 for 52 from 10 overs
Ben Hollis — 3 for 19 from 10 overs
Oliver — 2 for 41 from 10 overs
Fergus Deery — 1 for 9 from 4 overs
Chasing the target, Willoughby came flying out of the blocks. Nawaz and Deery stamped their authority all over the game inside the opening five overs, racing to 46 without loss and taking the contest away from Rushton almost immediately.

Nawaz played fluently for his 28 before falling looking to continue the charge, while Deery entertained everyone with an aggressive and well-crafted 51 before eventually being stumped after perhaps getting slightly too excited with the finish line in sight.

From there, Bonthuys and Haynes made the chase look effortless. Bonthuys finished unbeaten on 39*, while Haynes calmly added 42* as the pair guided Willoughby home comfortably inside 22 overs.

Another dominant home performance sees Willoughby remain undefeated at The Green, collecting another valuable 20 points in the blistering sunshine. The question now is whether The Green can become a true fortress this season.

Next up is a trip to Bugbrooke — not everybody’s cup of tea, but the lads will be ready for it. Let’s av it.