Whimple bagged a third straight E Division win with a six-run triumph in a compelling contest at a Whitchurch side that had started the day two places below the second-in-the-table visitors.

For the second time this season Whimple suffered the loss of a wicket off the very first delivery of the match with Henry Gordon-Lennox the unfortunate batsman.

Wickets continued to tumble and, at 117-8, Whimple were in deep trouble. However, the tail wagged. Number ten bat Luke Whitton made ten, last man Phil Hope chipped in with 12 and Steve Palfreys’ 28 helped see the total to a close of 163.

When drinks were taken by the home side they stood on 111-3 with victory firmly in their sights. However, as cricketers know, 111 is the infamous ‘nelson’ number and, true to legend, a wicket fell from the very first ball after the resumption. Mike Searle then bowled a hat-trick to fire Whimple right back into the match. The final wicket was taken with the home team one lusty blow from a win themselves. Searle finished with figures of 5-29 whilst Jibu Varghese claimed 3-34. Whimple skipper Ben Silk said: “This was a very special win. We knew we need to be beating the likes of Whitchurch to make a real statement of intent and that’s what we did. Now we need to push on from here.”

Next up is a trip to Topsham St James. Silk says: “More of the same would suit me. We are a little light on availability for the game, but that’s when the wider squad comes into play.”