Rare defeat for Norton Lindsey in close clash with Long Itchington
Norton Lindsey and Wolverton suffered only their second Cotswold Hills League Division One defeat in two seasons, going down by one wicket at the hands of Long Itchington on Saturday.
Having lost the toss, they were put into bat and struggled to deal with a slow, green wicket.
Harry Clarke (1) went after just four balls, then Simba Mudimo (17) lasted just 16.
Skipper Andrew Dellow was caught second ball, leaving the normally reliable batting attack in complete disarray.
Tom Wilcox (28) managed to effect some sort of recovery, but when opener Joe Williamson finally went for 17, the score had crawled to 75-7 in the 21st over.
This brought Warwickshire Seniors Dave McInness and Steve Bliwert together, batting at eight and nine.
Far from trying to see out the overs out carefully, they launched into the bowling attack with complete disregard, putting on 111 runs between them.
McInness finished on a stunning 87 off 73 balls, including four maximums into the surrounding fields, with Bliwert contributing 19.
The innings closed on the final ball of the 45, setting Long Itchington a target of 199, which Norton felt confident they could defend.
The reply got off to a confident start, with Jack Collyer (56) and Sam Bishop (44) putting on 114 for the first wicket.
Finally, they were both removed by Mudimo, having weathered some challenging bowling from Andrew Dellow and Mati Mafuwa.
After 36 overs, the momentum was definitely with the home side at 183-4, assisted by 25 wides, but suddenly everything seemed to fall apart.
Itchington then lost five wickets for 16 runs as Tom Wilcox and Steve Dellow turned the game on its head.
At the start of the final over, with nine wickets down, it could have gone either way.
However, Rob Smith (4) swung out at the second ball, sending it to the boundary, and brought an ultimately nailbiting encounter to a conclusion in a 12 run defeat for Norton.
Wilcox finished with 5-24 off 4.2 overs, with Steve Dellow 1-11 off five.
Over at Wolverton Road, Norton seconds welcomed unbeaten Division Four leaders Bretforton for what turned into another fascinating game that the visitors won in the final over.
Bretforton won the toss and decided to bat, but after six overs they were struggling at 12-3 as opening bowlers Jack Mann and Martin Hall struck.
Steve Edghill (20) and Will Evans (46) started the recovery, but they were both removed by Steve Webber, making a welcome return to the Saturday team.
At 86-5, the visitors were definitely on the ropes, but captain Will Lloyd (59) came in at six and dropped into an anchor role.
When he finally departed, he had restored some respectability to the score, which had reached 174.
However, Hall returned to clean up the tail, finishing with 3-13 off 7.4 overs, setting Norton a target of 186.
Dan Fell (40) made a good start in reply, then Mark White (61) arrived to begin the afternoon's second important innings.
A good partnership with Dave Jarrett (29) took the score to 130-5, then White continued to battle on until the final over.
With just 13 runs needed to win and nine wickets down, he was finally run out, giving Bretforton a narrow victory.
Sunday's visitors were Hobbs CC, who won the toss and batted.
Seven of their batters reached double figures, while their No.3 retired on 51, allowing them to reach a challenging 230-6 off their 35 overs.
Norton used 10 bowlers with success for Reichana Roberts (2-15 off four) and Jack Mann (2-20 off three).
In response, Joe Williamson (41) got the chase off to a good start, assisted by Olly Watson (38) and Harry Clarke (52 retired).
Unfortunately, there was little support from the other batters except skipper Nick Frost, who was 13 not out at the conclusion, leaving Norton 43 runs short.
This weekend, Norton first XI play Stratford third XI at home, while the second team travel to play Alcester & Ragley seconds.
This week's midweek fixture was a home Cotswold T20 East game against Lapworth, then on Sunday, a friendly against Oakfield & Rowland United.
It's the penultimate Friday Frenzy session, and freshly cooked burgers and hot dogs from the barbecue will be available as usual.
It's a 6pm start for the AllStars (Reception – Year 2) and Dynamos (Years 3-4), then 7pm for Years 5-12 (hardball).
Norton Lindsey are sponsored by MRW Waste Recycling of Long Marston.