A tremendous eighth wicket partnership of 124 rescued Elstead from a seemingly hopeless position at home to Waverley last Sunday.

Waverley lost the toss and were inserted. The first wicket fell in the fifth over when Marcus Carmichael went for a duck as he played across a yorker from Sam Warren (two for 22).

Warren soon bowled Chris Beanland for six and caught Simon Brewer, also for a duck, off Josh Whilding (two for 45).

Brothers Drew (25) and Aiden (45) Upward rescued the visitors with a fine partnership of 63 but both were eventually dismissed by Tom Walker (three for 40).

More wickets fell and only a swashbuckling innings by Wayne Torrey (54), supported by Adrian Day (seven), saved the day for Waverley, who went in for tea having made 179 for nine off their 35 overs.

After the interval the away side ripped into Elstead, with Adam Carmichael (three for 19) and Wayne Torrey (two for 33) taking them apart. Only early defiance from Tom Walker (29) and Sam Warren (ten) saved them from an embarrassing collapse, but they were reeling at 57 for seven when Henry Neal joined Josh Whilding.

Those two set about a repair job. They dug in and began wearing down the bowlers, but needing 123 off 23 overs was still a tall order for numbers eight and nine.

The local supporters were quiet to start with, but as the pair’s confidence grew and they started hitting the odd boundary, the noise level gradually rose.

The asking rate began to drop until only wickets would do for the visitors, and a couple of good batting overs were enough as Whilding hit the winning four to take Elstead to 181 for seven and a three-wicket victory with 16 balls to spare. Neal finished on 60 not out and Whilding on 41 not out.