Petersfield II v Old Netley & Highfield II: A MUCH-CHANGED line-up saw Petersfield’s second team start with four under-16 players at a sunny and hot Heath ground on Saturday.

Acting captain Chris Russell won the toss and elected to bat but as has been the case this year the home pitch was not very easy to bat on.

Petersfield lost Oscar Windebank, Ben Anscombe and Tom Sherry early on with only Russell finding any form on the slow and inconsistent pitch which the visitors exploited with some good, accurate bowling.

Joe Clarke (eight) helped to steady things but when he fell things were not looking so good. Russell continued to score but when he lost his wicket to a grubber for 49 a low score looked likely.

The tail wagged, however, and Paul Clarke (26) and Ed Milford (13) hit some powerful shots and then Ben Cox (12 not out) worked with the tailenders to take Petersfield to a reasonable 147-8 from their 42 overs.

Captain Russell encouraged the team to work hard and put pressure on the opposition which seemed to work with Windebank (2-12) and Ed Bayliss (2-13) removing both openers for golden ducks. Only Mo Khan played with any fluidity and the visitors were always in the game while he was at the crease.

Petersfield turned to the spin of Anscombe (3-22) and Russell (2-16) and wickets continued to fall and eventually Khan hit Anscombe straight to Russell in the covers for a hard fought 59 and Old Netley and Highfield faded to finish 87 all out.