Elephant?s Next v Walkham Valley IN a match reduced by rain to a ten-over thrash, Elephant?s Nest batted first at Horndon in light rain, and soon lost T Neale when Kevin Baxter ran him out with a direct hit, chasing a leg bye. Rich Berry then clean bowled M Parrish in the same over. When Tom Murray was caught and bowled by James Vincent in the second over, Elephant?s Nest were in a spot of bother. J Radcliffe stabilised the situation, but then lost Cherrington, bowled by James Hills, before departing himself to a finely judged catch at deep midwicket by Simon Ward off James Hills. Skipper Ben Neale hit some quality straight drives back past the bowlers at both ends. C Miller was then run out going for a second run when Rich Berry made a smart pick up and pinpoint throw to Kevin Baxter who quickly had the bails off. Neale, aided by Twine, continued to pile on the runs for the hosts, retiring for 26 well crafted runs. A Cleaver and Twine saw the innings to a close at 64 for 6, Cleaver with 6 and Twine with 5. Hills with 2 for 12, James Vincent 1 for 5, R Berry 1 for 11 and Sandy Ralph with 0 for 4 had kept the score reasonable, though some sharp fielding had also played its part. Needing over six per over, there was no hanging about when Walkham batted. James Vincent hit a rapid dozen, including a six off Tom Murray which left the parish. Murray settled Vincent?s hash with the next ball, a fizzing yorker which flattened his stumps. Chris Spreadbury started his innings with a thumping six, but then Ben Neale brought himself on and stopped the gallop. Palmer had Hills caught neatly on the long on boundary, and suddenly runs dried up as Neale and Cherrington put the squeeze on. Roger Smith perished for 5 caught off Cherrington, and Simon Ward joined the uncharacteristically becalmed Spreadbury as they eked out odd singles with overs running out. With three overs to go, Spreadbury relit the touch paper and found the boundary three times, putting Walkham back in contention. When Spreadbury retired undefeated on 25, the visitors still needed 13 off 9 balls. Tim Baxter joined Ward in a frenzied scamper as they picked up singles and the odd two, with Cleaver keeping things tight. Needing 9 off the final over, Burns restricted the batsmen to singles off the first two balls. But in a flurry of arms and legs they contrived a couple of twos, and it went to the wire with Walkham needing 3 from the final two balls, then one from the last ball of the match. With nerves on both sides jangling, a wide settled the issue, as the visitors sneaked home with a ball to spare at 65 for 3. Ward finished 9 not out and Baxter 3 not out. Best of the bowlers for the Elephant?s Nest was Ben Neale with 0 for 7, Palmer had 1 for 7, Cherrington 1 for 15 and Tom Murray 1 for 17.