Martin Berrill Division Three

Charfield 2nd XI (144-9) beat Stroud 4th XI (141-6) by one wicket

LAST pair Tony Field (10*) and Michael Colburn (12*) saw Charfield home in a thrilling finish against Stroud.

Charfield decided to field first on what proved to be a helpful wicket for the bowlers.

Stroud made a cautious start against an attack of pace one end and spin the other.

Allen Dobson made a creditable contribution of 18 with Dave Watson scoring 14.

The spin of Colburn (2-22 off ten overs) proved to be the main problem.

Steve Cole (29) and Rick Carman (41*) gained some momentum and, with young James Dobson (10*), pushed the score to 141-6 in the 40 overs.

Ben Fineman bowled well for Charfield, taking 3-33 in nine overs.

The Charfield innings in contrast got off to a flying start with opener Alan George (40) making his runs in good time.

Andrew Nash (22) and Joe Field (11) kept up steady progress but a superb spell of spin bowling by Jim Hurford (6-34 off ten) took the game to a nail-biting finish.

Andy Sutton also bowled well for Stroud, finishing with 2-31 off his ten overs.