SOUTH Wilts II made an inauspicious start to their Southern Electric Premier League Division 3 campaign, crashing to an eight-wicket defeat by last season’s relegated outfit Tichborne Park.

The game was effectively settled in the opening hour when South Wilts, put into bat in damp conditions, crashed to 26-6 against Tom Allam, who returned 5-14.

They lost five wickets for nine runs in a period before Army debutant Steve Booth (22), Tom Pearce (15) and Mark Burton (16) rallied to put an eventual 89 on the board.

Tichborne only managed two wins all last season, but wasted little time in reaching their target – Henry Don hitting an unbeaten 53 and sharing an unbroken 60-run stand with Roach (24) to clinch an eight-wicket victory in the 18th over.