Cove v Liphook & Ripsley III: LIPHOOK won the toss and elected to bat first.

The wicket was poor and it was always going to be a low scoring game. Liphook got off to a good start with openers Dave Coombes and Toby Flack looking in fine form. The Liphook batsmen worked hard for their runs, and, although wickets fell consistently throughout the innings everyone played their part in lifting the score to 138-9 off 42 overs. James Cansfield (27) and Coombes (24) were the highest scorers.

Whether 138 was going to be competitive would depend on the Liphook bowling, and Connor Welfare (3-21) and Max Chaplin (2-17) led the seam charge, bowling well and taking wickets in their opening couple of overs, which had Cove reeling at 12-2 at one stage. The spin of Coombes (2-22) and Anthony White (3-39) ensured that the visitors retained control of the game.

With some assured fielding and confident catching to back up the bowling – particularly from Cansfield, who ran 40 yards and took a running catch one-handed to dismiss Roger Farmelow, Liphook saw themselves home with 29 runs left in the bank.