MARTINSTOWN 215 (7pts) lost to SHILLINGSTONE 219-6 (20pts) by four wickets

A TOP score of 76 from Martinstown skipper Ed Nichols proved not enough as his side fell to a four-wicket defeat against Shillingstone.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, visiting skipper Nichols profited from a different role coming in at number four for the villagers, although he was still at the crease early in the contest. Having usually opened the batting this season, the wicketkeeper/batsman dug in with Lee House after Martinstown were reduced to 7-2.

Re-building alongside Lee House, Nichols’ knock eventually came to an end when he was run out by Shillingstone’s Tom House.

Dave Herbert also contributed 48 in quick time batting at six for the away side, as they were bowled out one delivery short of their 50 overs for 215. Olly Chaffey was the pick of the Shillingstone bowlers. He picked up four wickets for just 25 runs.

Following the break, a slight lack of bowling options proved costly for Martinstown, as Shillingstone got to their victory target with 10 overs left to spare.

After opener George Wayman did his job to get the hosts off to a flyer with 42, number three James Woodruff was the only man to pass 50 for the home side before he was dismissed by George Pope for 69.

And while Martinstown’s George Pope was impressive with the ball having recorded 2-24 from 10 overs, skipper Nichols admitted his side gave too many gifts to their opposition.

Giving his thoughts on the contest, he told Echosport: “We had a couple of guys back just for one week only really who are natural openers so I took the chance to slide into the middle order and it worked out okay. It’s always nice to get some runs but I’d rather win.

“To be honest, I thought the best chance with the side we had, where we were lacking a few bowlers, was to post a total and make them take some risks in the chase.

“We had a dodgy start and lost two early wickets, their opening bowlers bowled very well.

“I thought 215 was an okay total but we maybe could have put another 20 or 30 on top of that and put the squeeze on them a little bit.”

He added: “They put away our four balls and we didn’t bowl as well as we would have liked. At drinks, I think they were 155-1 and you are just not going to defend 215 from that position. We are just not bowling well enough in that first 25 which seems a bit of a reoccurring theme this year.”