Mixed start as the bails go on

Thatcham win but defeats for Falkland and Newbury

FALKLAND made a losing start to their Thames Valley League Division One campaign when going down by eight wickets at home to Cove.

A decent start that saw Falkland reach 116-2 petered out after openers Will Langmead and James Bird had gone for 40 and 37 respectively, and although Hamza Riazuddin went on to make 47, his loss at 173-5 saw the final five wickets fall for 38 runs.

Cove opener Nick Farr took charge when Cove replied, cracking an unbeaten 116 off 87 balls and although Paul Jenkins and Freddie Lennox claimed two of his partners, Stanley Marisa added an unbeaten 57 to an unbroken third wicket stand of 140 as Cove cruised to 215-2 with plenty of overs in hand.

Thatcham made a winning start in Division Two B with a four wicket win over Royal Ascot at Brownsfield.

Spinner Chris Bird took charge after Ascot had made a decent start, claiming 5-43 in his 13 overs as the visitors were held to 203-9 in their 52 overs.

Thatcham stayed ahead of the clock with Josh O’Flynn making 43, Jack Young 46, Scott Gibson 27 and John Williams an unbeaten 30 as they reached the target with four overs to spare.

Newbury’s Division Three A campaign began with a three wickets defeat at Eversley where their 212 total was overhauled with five overs to spare.