STALBRIDGE 267-6 (7pts) lost to MARTINSTOWN 269-5 (18pts) by five wickets

SKIPPER Ed Nichols was delighted with the way Martinstown held their nerve to chase down the daunting target they were set against Stalbridge at Lower Ashton Farm on Saturday.

In conditions that were well suited for batting, the home side actually elected to field first in their quest for victory but paced their reply perfectly in the second innings to get home with three overs to spare and seal their first win of the season.

“The wicket was absolutely fantastic and the outfield was quick, so it was a really nice batting day,” said captain Nichols.

“We put them in just because it was a bit humid and we thought it would swing around early on, which it did.

“They got up to almost 270, which, in any game of cricket, is a good score.”

Having elected to bowl, Martinstown looked at one point like they may have been chasing more than 300 for victory.

Stalbridge opener Stuart Sweatman accumulated 47 off just 52 balls, including two sixes, before he was caught by Chris Read off the bowling of Martinstown’s James Pickering, leaving the score at 70-2. Rob Burfitt produced a well-constructed knock at number three for the visitors with 65 off 85 deliveries.

But the hosts continued to toil away and, despite some late order hitting by Stalbridge’s Simon Sweatman (35no), Martinstown were left needing 268 to win.

Tom Nicholls was the pick of the home side’s attack with figures of 2-30, Pickering was also economical with his 1-27.

Despite losing opener Nichols (12) fairly early in the reply, scores from Lee House (49) and Sam Kershaw (55) set the platform for Martinstown.

Fraser Hill then smashed 68 off 61 balls including three sixes before he was dismissed but Nicholls then capped off his good day with the ball by adding an unbeaten 38 with the bat to get his side over the line.

Captain Nichols added: “From what I remember from last year, they were missing a couple of their frontline bowlers, which did help.

“We capitalised on that, paced our innings well and there were scores all the way through the order, which is always encouraging.

“I was really pleased that we kept our nerve and, in the end, made it look comfortable in a way.

“We knew, having seen how they batted, that we didn’t have to go from ball one, we could pace things and we did fantastically well.”