Cam 1st XI v Poulton 1st XI

AN UNDER strength Cam side battled hard to end their long winless run but ultimately fell to a narrow defeat.

Poulton batted first on a slow wicket and quickly found themselves in trouble as opener Higginson was caught by Simon Hall off the bowling of Pete Holder without scoring.

Soon afterwards Ed Rendall removed the other opener for one and the wickets continued to fall steadily after that.

Rendall bowled straight through his 12 over allowance with consistent accuracy while Simon Hall took two top order wickets in his three over spell.

Cam captain Matt Tipper then brought himself on to bowl and promptly took two wickets in his first over to rip out the lower middle order.

Bowling from the other end, Pete Hall brought the end of the innings ever closer with the wickets of two Poulton tail enders.

Tipper then polished off the innings with the wicket of the stubbornly resistant Bale for 23 meaning the visitors were all out for 88.

Despite the low score Cam knew that they would have to work hard if they were to taste victory for the first time since 2002.

They needed a solid start to be confident of reaching their target but instead lost their top order cheaply.

Rog Hall, Pete Hall, Graeme Brown and Tim Griffiths all departed early on to leave Cam on 18-4 and when Simon Hall was caught for six it became 26-5. Cam were staring a heavy defeat in the face despite the low scoring but rallied bravely either side of tea.

The experienced partnership of Tipper and John Pitt took the score on to 63 before Pitt was caught for a hard fought 11.

This brought Rendall to the wicket and he batted doggedly without scoring as Tipper attempted to guide his side home.

However, with the score on 76, Tipper played on for 34 and not long afterwards Holder was bowled for one to expose Cam's makeshift tail.

In fact, rather than saying the tail did not wag, a comparison with a Manx cat would have been more appropriate.

Stand-ins Keith Watson and Nathan Vines both failed to trouble the scorers, with Watson going first ball to a plum lbw decision and Vines being bowled in the following over.

The battling Rendall was left three not out as Cam's innings closed on 81 all out - seven runs short of that elusive victory.

Afterwards a disappointed Tipper said: "To have lost that game is frustrating, especially after the way we played in the field.

"But there were a lot of positives to come from our bowling so I am sure that our first win isn't too far away."

l Cam bowling figures: Holder 7-1-2-12, Rendall 12-2-2-36, S Hall 3-0-2-11, P Hall 5-0-2-26, Tipper 3.4-2-3-2.