Bexhill triumph in home opener

Having been held to a frustrating draw away to Middleton on the opening day the previous weekend, Bexhill began their home programme with a two-wicket win over St James’s Montefiore.

Winning the toss and electing to field, Bexhill soon had St James in trouble at 65-5 before an 81-run partnership between Tayyab Mahmood (54) and James Howard (39) got the visitors back on track.

Once the stand was broken, however, Bexhill soon wrapped up the last four wickets as the visitors were 176 all out. Jamie Wicks (4-32), Shawn Johnson (2-17) and Andrew Williams (2-35) were the main wicket-takers.

Bexhill captain Malcolm Johnson led from the start of the reply with 55 from 70 balls. Support came from Angus Cox (24), Johnathan Haffenden (17), Cameron Burgon (24) and Tim Hambridge (21) as the top batters all made a reasonable effort.

At 152-4, Bexhill looked to be cruising to an easy victory but the loss of four cheap wickets caused “squeaky bum time” among the 100+ Bexhill supporters before the team got across the winning line.

Standings (all played two matches): 1 Eastbourne 60pts, 2 Goring-by-Sea 52, 3 BEXHILL 43, 4 Findon 40, 5 Ifield 40, 6 St James’s Montefiore 40, 7 CROWHURST PARK 24, 8 Middleton 22, 9 Pulborough 19, 10 Glynde & Beddingham 18.