Surrey Championship

Premier Division

Weybridge 171

Avorians 172-9

COBHAM Avorians won a tense, drawn-out contest against near neighbours and arch-rivals Weybridge, scraping home with four balls to spare and one wicket standing.

Weybridge won the toss, and elected to have a bat. Scoring was difficult early on, with Jamie Lawrence putting in a series of maidens to restrict Weybridge to 34 from the first 10 overs

However, neither Lawrence nor Tom Collins could penetrate the Weybridge defence, and it was left to the A's captain, Steve Naylor, to make the breakthrough.

Naylor's first victim was Waters, caught behind by Kingsnorth, and Franklin came and went quickly, bowled for a first ball duck.

Naylor could not complete his hat-trick, but he went on to take five Weybridge wickets including that of Z Ansari, who had inched his way painstakingly to a half century when he gave Kingsnorth his second of four catches.

Lawrence and Naylor went tit-for-tat with wickets, and Lawrence finished with impressive figures of 4-51 from 20 overs. The pair were ably supported by Luc Durrandt who took the last Weybridge wicket to fall.

The Avorians have a reputation as a chasing team, and the target should have been easily in their grasp. Durrandt and Reece O'Connell hit a bright and breezy 51 before O'Connell was dismissed for 23, but when Durrandt went in the 15th over for 40, the wheels started to fall off.

Mann, the Weybridge spinner, bowled a marathon stint of almost 22 overs, conceding just 34 runs, while opening bowler Turner was steadily picking up wickets.

After an interruption for rain, scoring ground almost to a halt, and when the number of overs available was reduced to 58, it suddenly became possible that the Avorians would not reach the modest total.

Ben Chapman and Scott Jarvis put on 56 for the fifth wicket, but Chapman's eventual dismissal for 54 left Jarvis with just the tail end for support.

Harpley went for a duck, Collins for five and Lawrence for a duck. The Avorians needed three runs from two overs, with one wicket remaining, and Jarvis was at the wrong end.

Keith Millett, drafted in from the second XI, blocked ball after ball, to the delight of his cheering teammates and, with Jarvis eventually on strike, an untouched ball whizzed past the keeper, and the two byes got the Avorians home with four balls to spare.