St Andrews take local bragging rights over Burgess Hill 2nd XI

With both the Saints captain and vice-captain running late, JJ Davies took on captaincy duties and opted to bowl first after winning the toss.

Burgess Hill got off to a good start, with Ben Hopkins (22) particularly looking in good touch against the St. Andrews opening bowlers.

However, with the last ball of the sixth over Angus Hill (1-23) had Hopkins caught behind, a wicket which turned out to be the first of a collapse for the batting side.

Having arrived late, Shaun Nichols was introduced in the eighth over and struck twice in his opening over, removing Ian Simpson and Luke Morris (both ducks).

Tom Penfold and Luke Vick helped Burgess Hill reach 50, but Nichols struck twice again in quick succession to remove Penfold (11) and Martyn Box (duck), and he soon had five wickets when top-scorer Vick (28) chipped the ball to Adam Chilcott at mid off.

Nichols wasn’t done there either as, with three balls left of his spell, he had Matt Charman (one) caught at slip by Nick Elkins to finish with figures of 6-16 from his eight overs and leave Hill on 78-7.

Some lusty blows from George Willett (18) and Harry Deacon (26*) helped drag Burgess Hill into three figures, before Willett was caught in the deep off the bowling of Jack Barton (2-24).

Soon after Davies (1-21) bowled Toby Munt (duck) and, after a brief resistance from the final pair, Burgess Hill were dismissed for 127 as Dan Maskell’s (two) attempted switch-hit ended up straight in the hands of Ollie Brookes at slip.

In reply, the Saints started brightly, with Alex Ellis (31) finding the boundary with ease.

However, St. Andrews suffered a collapse of their own, with Hill (four), Ellis, Elkins (five) and Scott Lonsdale (duck) all falling in the space of a few overs.

George Willett (1-49) and Munt (3-43) were the bowlers responsible for the damage.

With St. Andrews on 42-4, it looked like the chase would be a long, tense one. However, any doubts were quickly pushed aside as Michael Platt (41*) and Chilcott (30*) put together a partnership of 89 to see the Saints home in just the 23rd over.

It was an excellent partnership from the two young batsmen, with both players looking in control and hardly offering any chances to the Burgess Hill bowlers.

All in all it was a successful day for St. Andrews against a tough Burgess Hill side. Hopefully the team can push on from this result now and mount a decent promotion campaign.