Goatacre edge run-fest

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Goatacre were positive from the first over with the young pair of Jack Haines and Brad Dawson punishing anything loose.

Haines raced to his first 50 of the season and dominated the opening partnership before he was dismissed for 61.

Luke Edwards maintained the pace of the innings, smashing 60, whilst Dawson also passed 50 as Goatacre set themselves up for a substantial total.

As the hosts tried to push the rate on in the latter overs, Goatacre shuffled their pack and promoted Jason Searle up the order to take the attack to their visitors.

The plan paid off spectacularly as Kevin Iles and Searle dismissed the ball to all parts of the ground and surrounding gardens in a quickfire stand of almost 100.

This left Goatacre well-placed, finishing their 45 overs at an impressive 312 for 4.

Tight bowling from Craig Edwards and Craig Gibbens meant Bedwyn were unable to find a high early run rate, and when Edwards removed Quinn with just 25 runs on the board, things looked good for Goatacre.

The introduction of spin twins Dawson and Searle reaped immediate reward with three further wickets falling to leave the visitors struggling at 55 for 4.

However, nobody had accounted for the destructive batting of Rob Palmer, who bludgeoned his way to 115 to give Bedwyn hope.

With valuable support from Daniel Swatton the vistors established themselves in the contest, and with 100 required from 15 overs and two batsmen set, Bedwyn started to become favourites.

However, the introduction of Iles into the bowling attack turned the game again.

He removed Palmer, to a good catch by Wilkins, and then tied the batsmen down and increased the required rate significantly.

With runs becoming harder to come by and the pressure mounting wickets began to fall and the game turned firmly back in Goatacre’s favour.

Iles finished with 5-24 runs and Edwards 2-42 runs to ensure the hosts emerged victorious.