Broad Chalke CC was the venue for Wilton’s first league cricket match since 2019, and much-welcomed 21-run win.

Put into bat, Wilton lost their first wiclet after just six balls - opener Powell clean bowled for 0, but look at the batting we’ve got today- a blip. It went from bad to worse for Wilton as they slipped to 16-4, Sankaran and Victor both dismissed for ducks, Hillier for 1.

76 from Andy Green, 25 from Dan Armstrong, and 43 from skipper Shergold saw Wilton recover from their shocking start, posting a total of 191 all out.

A Green-Shergold partnership helped Wilton wrestle back some of the momentum and get themselves onto the front foot for the first time in the game.

Into the field, and Hattersley and Sethupathy opened the bowling, doing so very tidily. The dangerous Irvine and Mercer struggled to get the ball beyond the ring, and so found themselves behind the run rate at 29-0 after nine overs. Armstrong came into the attack and a full delivery soon saw Mercer bowled for 12.With McDonald also into the attack, Irvine set a full toss straight towards the safe hands of Ganesh at mid off. I say safe hands. Down it went. Newman and Irvine started to add runs at a solid rate, if not yet a rate that would worry Wilton too much.

In terms of setting the foundations for an innings though, it felt calmer than the earlier Wilton effort.

A half-tracker from Green dragged his body through a fairly wayward spell, and was rewarded for his incompetence as a half-tracker inexplicably bowled Newman for 17, and the score was at 89-2. Shergold then bowled Downs with a full one in the next over, before Bundy and Thorne were dismissed by Sankaran, bowled and caught Shergold respectively.

This brought Moseley to the crease, and Irvine, by now in the 40s, seemed more than happy to share the strike. The score quickly become157-5 from 32, and the game looked like it was back in Broad Chalke’s favour- 35 required from eight. In the blink of an eye, Armstrong swung the game back round again, removing Moseley and W Hulme, the latter LBW. With Andy back on at the other end, it was all about whether we could keep Irvine under control or better still, get him out.

The big breakthrough finally came, one attempted big hit too many, and Irvine played round a straight one, bowled for a very effective 70.

With that wicket came the end of the game in many ways, as although the last couple of batsmen stayed around for a few overs, Wilton had the boundaries covered, and the bowling was good enough and straight enough to avoid the eight-an-over needed to take the game away from Wilton.

Armstrong finished with an excellent 4-11, and Green 3-35.