Frensham comfortably beat Tilford by six wickets at Hollowdene in Division One of the I’Anson League.
The home side won an important toss and asked their close neighbours to bat first.
Opening bowlers Hilton Young and Chris Pow bowled unchanged for their ten overs, sharing six wickets as the score slipped to 69 for six on a drying wicket. Daniel Wrenn put up some short-term resistance with 21 and Matt Cook and Huw Town-Jones added 45 to bring the score to 119.
Cook continued his fight but ran out of partners to finish on 48 not out and the final total was 148 all out in the 48th over.
Pow took four for 41 and Young two for 27 in their spells.
Thereafter Phillimore, whose 58 not out included four sixes, and Leon Ellen (33 not out) were untroubled as they added 74 to reach the target with plenty of overs to spare as Frensham gained their fourth win of the season.
Heavy rain had fallen in the days running up to the match, so it was no surprise to see a green-top wicket that had seamers on both sides licking their lips. Blackheath won the all-important toss and, not surprisingly, duly inserted Headley to bat.
Opening bowler Steve Brennand got Blackheath off to a flying start, delivering a good one to get rid of opening batter Dylan Harris for a duck.
Two balls later Brennand produced another top-quality delivery to knock over the ultra-consistent Alex Wenban for a duck.
Headley were teetering, and with Brennand (three for 13) and Danny Harrison both bowling good opening spells, the home side needed to dig in.
Stroke maker Calvin Bandi and the expansive Usama Abro managed to hang around for a while and take whatever runs they could get, but when Abro was caught on the boundary for 20 Headley’s middle order were exposed again with not many runs on the board with plenty of overs in hand.
Bandi (17) played a solid and responsible innings but he succumbed to Harrison (two for 24) and, thereafter, a mixture of good bowling and good fielding restricted Headley to a disappointing total of 68 all out in the 32nd over, as the lower order failed to wag.
Headley took to the field knowing that early wickets were a must if they were to have any chance of turning the game around, and that is exactly what they got.
Running into the wind, warhorse Matty Hall sent both Blackheath openers back in quick succession and then dismissed Blackheath overseas player Tom Flavell.
When the pacy Devyn Scott (one for 28) found a good one to castle Matthew Jackson (three), Blackheath found themselves 18 for four and the game was well in the balance.
A rain shower affected the momentum for the home side, and upon the restart Blackheath skipper Will Melhuish played some delightful strokes to amass a solid 37 to turn the tide in Blackheath’s favour. When Hall (four for 38) snared Melhuish the game was all but over, and Tom Vickers (12 not out) played a few lusty shots to get Blackheath over the line by five wickets in the 18th over.
In Division Six, Headley’s third team travelled to Milford and were asked to bat first.
Having lost both openers early on, the belligerent Pete Daly scored an entertaining and hard-hitting 60 before being bowled by Bret Askew (three for 16).
Some good support with the bat came from rookie Dan Cross (17) and the long handle of Adam Joyce (21), but none of the other Headley players could support with many more runs. With Craig Enticknap (two for 20) and Shaun Dyer (two for 17) weighing in with the ball, the away side’s innings finished in the 35th over with Headley 138 all out.
Milford, with a rain reduced 36 overs to score the required target, started strongly with Ali Brooks leading the way with an accomplished 32.
A fine spell from Joyce (four for eight) stalled progress, however, a dazzling 54 from Stanley Crawford saw Milford to the win in the 34th over, having lost six wickets.