Whitchurch v Feniton

SKIPPER Richard Hall maintained his remarkable run of winning 11 out of 13 tosses this season and inserted the home side looking for early wickets and containment.

Sambells duly obliged with a wicket in the first over. Six overs later he netted a second as Feniton looked in trouble at 28 for two.

Bedford and Kingdon then added 59 for the third wicket when Bedford was out for 42.

The pitch was offering nothing for the bowlers and the outfield was very quick. Runs flowed quickly but wickets fell at regular intervals.

At the halfway stage, the innings could go either way with Feniton on 132 for 5. Meadows taking two wickets.However, the wickets didn't come and the runs flowed. 89 had been added for the sixth wicket when Kingdon fell to Tamblin for 83.

Pfieffer pressed on and in partnership with Pyle helped their side to a sizeable total.

As Whitchurch awaited the declaration, Feniton batted on passing 300 and allowing Pfieffer to complete his hundred. Feniton closed on 316 for seven.

Whitchurch top loaded the batting, looking for a quick start with skipper Hall as the lynchpin. Though steady the runs didn't come as easily as French and Pyle bowled a tight line.

Hall found an ally in Meadows (33) as they added 51 for the third wicket, but the realistic target had already been revised to 211 for a losing draw.

Heatley and Hall shored things up, but the run rate for the losing draw was steadily rising towards six an over.

Hall was finally out for a composed 40 and after a quick fire 16 from Sherrell, Whitchurch were 124 for six.

Heatley (26) and Powell counter attacked as Whitchurch made good progress towards collecting batting points.

As the overs ran out, Powell was joined by Kerswill. Together they added 47 in six overs, including an effortless pull for six from Kerswill that had the locals scattering in the bar.

Kerswill finished 28 not out and Powell 31 not out, as Whitchurch closed agonisingly 4 runs short of the losing draw total on 207 for 7. They did pick up eight points from the game though.