Kilmington took the honours in the C Division East derby match with Whimple, but a compelling game was won by just a single wicket with just seven balls of the contest remaining.

Whimple won the toss and batted first and Nathan Kidd and Henry Gordon-Lennox opened the innings only to be parted with the score on 23 when Gordon-Lennix was caught by Kilmington wicketkeeper Billy Reed off Tom Gooding for 15.

Cameron Kidd was next in, and out, caught by Glenn Harding off Ollie Reed for four and, when number four bat Mike Searle was sent back without troubling the scorers, Whimple were 36-3. David Culshaw joined opener Kidd and they took the total to 60 when Kidd became the fourth wicket, caught by Billy Reed off Tom Olive for a four boundary 24. Culshaw, having scored 22, was run out by a Matthew Pile throw to leave Whimple 129-5 and just two runs were added when Devon Nightingale became a third victim for glovesman Reed, again off the Gooding bowling. A terrific innings by skipper Ben Silk was ended with him just one run short of a deserved half century – he was bowled by Tom Gooding for 49, having scored six fours and one six.

Stephen Hathaway (0) and Neil Maud (1) fell in quick succession, the former caught by Ollie Reed off Glenn Harding and the latter clean bowled by Gooding. Matt Richards joined number eight Matt Brown and the last pair added 39 for the final wicket which was that of Brown, bowled by Matt Roickett for 30 with Richards the not out batsman on six and Whimple bowled out for 188 in 42.1 overs with the second biggest contribution, after that 49 from skipper Silk, being 36 extras, 22 of which were wides. The Kilmington bowling honours went to Tom Gooding with figures of 4-36 from nine overs and Ollie Reed finished with 2-28 from eight overs.

The Kilmington reply was started by Tom Gooding and Matt Rockett and they took the score to 36 when Rockett was caught by Mike Searle off the bowling of Stephen Hathaway for 16. Matt Pile joined Gooding and they took the score to 82 when Gooding was caught by Culshaw off Matt Richards for a seven boundary 35. Billy Reed was next out, caught by Mike Brown off Devon Nightingale for 16 with the score then 107-3 and, with the total on 128, Pile’s knock was ended when he was caught by Gordon-Lennox to give Richards a second wicket.

Alex Rockett was caught by Nightingale off the bowling of Richards for three and, when Glenn Harding was bowled by Neil Maud for the reply was 155-6. Kilmington skipper Brett Garner was next out, caught and bowled by Matt Brown for 27 with the score on 160 and, when the eighth wicket fell with the total on 163, Josh Short, caught by Matt Brown off Neil Maud for one, Kilmington were still 26 runs shy of victory with just two wickets remaining!

However, Ollie Reed joined Rob Crabb and the pair added 21 for the ninth wicket before a Ben Silk catch off the bowling of Gordon-Lennox ended the Reed innings with nine to his name. Last man Tom Olive came to the wicket with five runs required for victory and he stood firm, finishing not out one with Crabb unbeaten on 11 as Kilmington got home off the fifth ball of penultimate over of an enthralling game. For Whimple, the bowling honours went to Matt Richards, with 3-27 from nine overs while Neil Maud’s return was 2-33 from nine.