Fuller's League Division Two

Worpledon & Burpham 172

Merstham 173-4

Merstham climbed back to fourth on Saturday after a solid performance against Worplesdon & Burpham.

After delays getting to the ground due to problems on the M25 Merstham won the toss and elected to field on a hot day and a good pitch having successfully chased down substantial targets at the ground for the last two years.

Merstham welcomed back former skipper Dan Feist to open the bowling with Joe Shinners.

With Worplesdon & Burpham's top batsmen Grant missing the top order lacked some consistency and discipline and could feel slightly unlucky to come across the best fielding display for Merstham for the season.

Not one catch was dropped during the day and there were some sharp catches in the slips from Vincent and Loader while the outfielding was equally impressive with Sharp and Shinners holding on to some towering hits.

Shinners and Vincent ended up with three wickets a piece while Feist, Sharp and Preston shared the other wickets as Worplesdon & Burpham were bowled out for 172 in 43 overs.

In reply Merstham lost Freeman for four early on before Loader and Shinners put together a match-winning century partnership after coming under pressure from the off-spin of Budd and aggressive bowling from Edge.

Shinners was eventually dismissed for 32 but the damage was already done before Patel scored a quickfire 24.

Loader was dismissed for 88 by Frost and Patel departed soon after but with only seven required Lowe and Vincent saw Merstham home for a deserved win with 20 overs remaining.

This win keeps Merstham in the running for a promotion spot, but they know that only five wins from the remaining five fixtures will give them a realistic chance of obtaining that aim.