LIFE in County Division 2 is not going to be quite as simple as first thought for Redlynch and Hale after they were well-beaten by Hungerford on home territory.

After Ian Tanner’s men were asked to bat first, the hosts lost Dave Webber and James Dorrington quickly, before skipper Tanner (28) and Glenn Willoughby (39) put a stand of 57 together. Then when Tanner departed, big-hitting Jon Hatchet weighed in with a quickfire 34 before holing out. With Willoughby gone too, a decent target was looking improbable and too turgid to contemplate, as South African overseas player Hugo Nelson quickly ended the cameos from Kev Hopkins (16) and Ben Vincent (14) as the home side closed on a disappointing 179 all out. Nelson, returning an impressive 5-29.

However, when Ben Brown (2-26) accounted for both openers, with only 23 runs accrued, there seemed to be a glimmer of hope.

But, sadly for the newly-promoted Woodfalls Cross outfit, Nelson began a destructive innings of 65 with a six and seven fours, to swing the match firmly in the visitors’ hands. James Taylor finally bowled Nelson but, by then, Rob Sadler had notched up 32 and Kevin Rowell was well set. His unbeaten 36 saw his side comfortably home by six wickets and overs to spare.

There was much better news from Alderholt, where the club’s second string cruised past the home side in Regional Division 2 (NW) for a win by seven wickets.

The home side were dismissed for just 86. Sam Hatton conceded just 1-10 from his 10 over allocation with Andy Soutar (2-9), Michael Brown (3-10) and Nathan Pollard (2-11) all doing well. In reply, captain Iain Soutar (26) and Ewan Tanner (18) broke the back of the target. And although Harry Morris captured 3-26, Ben Lindsay (16) was the only other wicket to fall as the visitors overcame the target.

In the junior section, the under-9s enjoyed a 56-run win at Michelmersh & Timsbury, the under-11s were also victorious scoring 286-4 against Paultons and the under-15s advanced to 112-8 in their weekend clash with Bramshaw.