Bexhill edged out in T20 final

BEXHILL came up agonisingly short in their quest to lift the Gray-Nicolls Sussex Twenty20 Cup.

The underdogs were edged out by just four runs in the final against Horsham at the County Ground, Hove, on Sunday.

Horsham won the toss and decided to bat. Bexhill skipper Malcolm Johnson claimed the early wicket of James Johnson and then Josh Beeslee ran out William Beer to reduce the favourites to 16-2.

Shawn Johnson also got amongst the wickets as Horsham slumped to 57-5 before finishing on 119-8 off their allotted overs.

Opener Graig Gallagher top-scored with 22 while John Burroughs (11 not out) and Sam Bell (19 not out) shared a crucial unbroken stand of 31 for the ninth wicket.

All the Bexhill bowlers kept things tight with the wickets falling to Shawn Johnson (2-21), Neil Blatchly (2-30), Malcolm Johnson (1-19) and Jamie Bristow-Diamond (1-16).

In reply, Bexhill had plenty of wickets in hand but were just unable to overhaul the target as they ended up on 115-5.

Malcolm Johnson hit 65 off 58 balls which included six fours and one six, while Blatchly (12) and Tim Hambridge (15 not out) also chipped in.

Owain Jones (2-17), Michael Munday (2-24) and William Beer (1-19) grabbed the wickets.