With dark clouds in the sky, and rain seemingly pouring upon every other square inch of the county other than the Rec, Chesterfords managed to commence their game against High Beach.

Winning the toss, Chesterfords skipper Wazz Mughal elected to bat first and the opening combination of David Lightning and Piers Robson got the side off to a good start. Lightning was solid, cautiously progressing through the overs whilst Robson was typically aggressive as he raced his way to 18. James Pullen replaced Robson at the crease, and continued in the same vain as he crashed the ball to all parts of the ground for a nonchalant 36. Some good bowling from Joseph for High Beach saw Lightning caught behind for 32, and the current run machine David Perring caught for 1. Captain Wazz Mughal came to the crease following the departure of Pullen for 36, and Mughal continued the theme that was set by Robson and Pullen by sending the ball packing over the boundary for a quick fire 31. With the score at 127 for 5,  and only 10 overs remaining, Paul Phillips and Tim Lewis took the executive decision to bat in a manner more familiar with twenty20 cricket. Lewis took the initial lead as he thumped his was to 34 and Phillips followed suite with an unbeaten 58 with an ease that did not reflect the true nature of a difficult batting wicket. From their 45 overs, Chesterfords put on a massive 240-6

Following a quick turn around, Chesterfords put early pressure on with the ball. Alan Stokley bowled his standard economical 10 overs, having only been hit for 26, and was supported by Wazz Mughal who bowled 7 overs taking 3 for 24. The key wicket was that of M. Bear averaging 85 this season, Bear was undone by a spectacular catch by wicket keeper Greg Watson of Mughal’s bowling for only 16. High Beach, playing for bonus points managed to get to 169-9 from their 45 overs, with Steve Squares and David Lightning each taking 2 wickets. Miraculously the rain held off for the full 90 overs allowing Chesterfords to win by 71 runs.

Scorecard

                        The end of Piers                                                           The end of James Pullen