Timsbury Cricket Club travelled to Lord's cricket ground on Sunday to play against Houghton Main in the final of the national village competition.

The Somerset village team enjoyed a fantastic and very proud day at Lord's, with brilliant support from the travelling 'Malcolm Tuckers Cider Army', but at the end of the day the team lost narrowly by four wickets with just one over to spare in a game they looked like winning for a long period and which was a great advert for village cricket and a credit to both sides.

Winning the toss was very important with a damp wicket, which only got better and better during the day as sun came out on a great day for both clubs, and Houghton Main elected to field first.

Those difficult conditions early on, and the early loss of 'Smudger' Smith, meant that Mark Sage and Dave Pippett had to stay at the crease and ensure wickets were in hand as the pitch improved. 

They did it in good style putting on 95, and with the skipper Sage scoring a Man of the Match innings of 72, they helped to ensure that the batsmen coming in could keep the board ticking over and set up a competitive target of 185.

Houghton Main in reply struggled early on against Lloyd Davies, and with a sharp piece of work by Mark Smith to effect a run out, they slipped to 31 for 4, and the whole of Timsbury was daring to think they may be on their way to victory. 

However, the Houghton batsmen always kept up to the required run rate, and despite Bisby having to retire hurt, they enjoyed the improved batting conditions and kept the target well within sight. 

Timsbury bowled and fielded well, with Hucker putting in a good spell in the second half of the innings, but could only pick up two further wickets, and without getting the key breakthroughs at the times they strived for and deserved.

The returning Bisby, with runner, and Collins both batted sensibly, after a key innings from Jeffs, to see Houghton Main home with one over left to claim the npower National Village Knockout Cup.

Back to home page