Panthers agonisingly short against a very strong Purbrook side.

Panthers won the toss and captain, Edward Kershaw, elected to bowl first on a damp pitch after a day of showers.

Rowan and George opened the bowling with a very tidy spell. A wicket a piece, 11 runs conceded and only 2 extras given in 4 overs. A fantastic start. Jack and Adem were next up. Jack, bowling a 4 over spell due to being a player down with an economy rate of 3.75 and Adem, improving through his overs managed to find his line and length. Harry and Kieran then combined giving away only 4 extras between them but coming up against 2 good batters that managed 21 runs. Felix with perhaps the best bowling figures of the day took 2 wickets, conceded only 5 runs and 1 extra, a fantastic effort. Ben and captain Ed took the final overs. Again, a very solid batting pair managed 17 runs but Ben and Ed kept it tidy and Kieran managed a fantastic run out throwing at a single stump from square leg. Ed also took a fine catch earlier in the innings.

Batting proved to be very difficult against a very strong Purbrook bowling attack. Rowan and George scoring 13 between them. George finding the boundary. Jack and Adem came up against two very quick bowlers and were incredibly brave, taking a few hits. Harry and Felix combined but again found scoring difficult. Felix batting 4 overs and scoring 10 also paired with Kieran who scored 2. Ben and Ed were the final pair. Needing a run a ball for victory, they set about their task well. Ben scoring a boundary and the pair rotated the strike with some well taken quick singles. The pair looked on course to snatch victory until, in the final over, a fine catch in the field swung the balance Purbrooks way. It proved a decisive moment as Purbrook took the match by 5 runs.

The whole team should be incredibly proud of themselves and the way they played. Purbrook are a very strong team and we were heavily beaten by them earlier this season. To only lose by 5 runs is a great achievement.