CHARLTON DOWN 176-8 (20pts) beat MARTINSTOWN SECONDS 92 (5pts) by 84 runs

CHARLTON DOWN eventually came out on top after a hard- fought County Division Five victory over local rivals Martinstown Seconds by 84 runs.

Batting first, Charlton Down’s openers Jae Miller and Luke Voss soon had the scoreboard moving with 44 on the board in the eighth over, before a change of bowling that saw James Reynolds snared Miller for 28.

Sam Roles (13) was then dismissed as Reynolds picked up his second wicket with the score on 66-2. Tony Jacobs then chipped in having Matt Stevens caught.

The Charlton total moved on to 102-3 with 16 overs left, but the introduction of leg-spin from John Stewart (3-21) produced a flurry of wickets as he tempted the Charlton Down batsmen into some rash shots.

Luke Voss was Stewart’s first victim as he batted patiently for more than an hour-and-a-half for his 40, and 102-3 soon became 103-6 as the match swung back in Martinstown’s favour.

However, Kim Park produced an unbeaten 42, and, with the help of late order batsmen Nick Voss (16) and Matt Venn (5), they pushed the score to secure maximum batting points off the last ball of the innings, posting 176-8.

In reply, the Martinstown innings didn’t get going due to excellent opening bowling from Stevens (4-12) and Nick Voss (1-8).

After 12 overs the score was on 19-2 and Martinstown eventually collapsed from 61-4 to 92 all out in only 31 overs.

Captain Pete Tucker said: “It was great to see two local teams giving young players an opportunity to contribute in the game, watched by a lot of family and friends who gave good vocal support to both teams.

“It was important that Luke Voss and Kim Park batted sensibly against an accurate bowling attack to avoid a batting collapse.

“Martinstown’s young bowler John Stewart should be proud of his display and Tony Jacobs showed what line and length is all about.”