Sidley caught out in run chase

The home side must have thought they had a fighting chance of notching only their second win of the campaign after dismissing Pulborough for 191, but once again their batting let them down as they were dismissed well short of their target.

Ultimately the absence of Peter King, Nick Honeysett and Tyrone Wildman - plus a stunning catch to dismiss overseas player Faisal Naveed in the match itself - proved decisive.

Captain Scott Woodroffe said: "It wasn't a complete disaster considering who we had out, but we did lose which was disappointing because before the start of the season this was one of the games we would have thought we could have won. With the sort of squad we have this year if we are missing one or two main players we are struggling - missing three meant we were really up against it.

"We gave a spirited display in the field but the batting let us down again," he went on. "We should have got 191 but the batting just isn't there at the moment. They did bowl well but really the story of the day was a catch won the match. Naveed was going formidably well and was caught by an absolute peach - a full length diving catch - and after that we never got back into it."

With Sidley's bowling resources stretched to the limit they did well to dismiss the League newcomers for under 200. Ashley Clarke hit 69 and Gavin Clarke made 30, while all the home bowlers performed well, in particular Woodroffe himself whose left-arm spin earned 6-62 while Chris Deeprose bagged 2-18.

The Sidley reply centred around Naveed who unleashed a torrent of attacking shots in a blistering 33 before falling to Pulborough's very own Spring-Heeled Jack.

Jonathan Haffenden and Deeprose also got starts but no-one stayed around long enough to threaten a revival as Sidley were shot out for 113.

Sidley visit Stirlands on Saturday June 12.