Fielding first, Nuthurst were without the services of opening bowler, Graham Prior, who was only fit enough to bowl a couple of overs of gentle spin. It was left to Raggi Singh and Jeremy James to open the bowling and the opening pair of Whitmore and S. Savidge offered stubborn resistance. They put on 80 for the first wicket before Jonty Greenwood (6-0-22-1) made the breakthrough as first change bowler, bowling Whitmore for 13. Weston (8-0-34-0) toiled away and had three chances put down, but the batting side continued to thrive. Matt made a brisk 38 before Singh juggled his way to a caught and bowled. Savidge played a fine innings on his way to 83, putting away any loose deliveries. It was the golden arm of Jonny Willis that eventually bowled Savidge, clipping the top of the bails.

The return of James and Singh (14.3-1-49-3) saw a change in the tempo of the match. Harding was trapped LBW by James for 20, and was also grateful to Singh for snapping up a catch to removed Amate for 2. This, after James dropped a similar chance from Singh’s bowling, the previous over.

Graham Prior popped up to somehow catch Parker for Singh’s 3rd wicket, despite being virtually immobile.

Nuthurst got through 46 overs and the home side declared on 201-7.

Revived by a very pleasant Tea, Ekins and Willis set about redressing the balance with a brisk start to the innings. They put on 114 for the first wicket, before Willis was out LBW to Amati, having ridden his luck on the way to 54. In at 3, David Thompson enjoyed his knock, contributing 29 not out, while Ekins made batting look extremely easy. He scored 86 before holing out to Whitmore, bowled Parker.

Ben Hewson (1) and Ollie Prior (0) were the batsmen to miss out as Parker ventured towards a hatrick opportunity. Greenwood, in at five, found himself surrounded by close fielders and almost obliged Wivelsfield, with a playful tap to extra cover. The fielder got a hand to it, but was no able to cling on. Greenwood survived on 21 not out, as The Nutters cruised to the target without further drama.

By scribbler, Bob Weston