CRICKET: WILLOUGHBY edged to an exciting one run victory in their opening South Northants Cricket League Division One fixture as they stole victory from the jaws of defeat against Bodicote.
Willoughby batted first and after seeing Ashley Rayner make 49 and Dave Alcock (31), the middle to lower end was ripped out by the bowling of Rob Lightfoot who took 22/6 for the visitors
The home side recorded what appeared to be a below-par score of 126 all out.
Their total looked more fragile than first feared when Matt Miller made 73 for the visitors. But even with his departure Bodicote were still firmly in the driving seat at 112/3.
Requiring just 15 runs from the concluding seven overs, Bodicote struggled to find gaps and soon needed nine runs from three overs.
However a mid-order collapse saw wickets tumble and Bodicote require seven runs from the last over.
They could only manage five and the hosts pulled off an unlikely one-run victory.
Willoughby A meanwhile cruised to a 17 run victory against Bodicote A in Division Three.
Batting first, the visitors made only 134/8 with Ian Button (32) and Badj Rahman (30) top scoring – Iqbal and Gower taking two wickets apiece for the hosts.
However their total proved sufficient as in reply Bodicote were bowled out for 117.
Gerber (23) and Hussein (18) were the only contributions of note in the face of Kishan Parmar taking 25/4, and Fergus Deery 25/3.
This weekend Willoughby first XI travel to play Evenley A in Division One while the second XI will host Wicken at home.
A friendly between Willoughby and Monks Kirby will take place on Sunday. All games start at 2pm.
