Pirton hold their nerve

Due to the morning’s persistent rain the match was reduced to 40 overs-a-side which ultimately led to exciting batting performances.

After electing to field, Pirton made the perfect start to restrict Dunstable to 1-2, and then 35-4.

However, Adam Lewis and Phil Lewis started to make inroads into the sub-standard Pirton bowling and took the score to 105.

Both then departed, before Shoaib Rashid smashed a quickfire 68 as Dunstable finished on 188 all out.

Jake Laskowski was Pirton’s best bowler with 3-13 from eight overs, while Sanchay Kaeley returned figures of 3-37.

Pirton made a stuttering start to their run-chase as they slumped to 23-2.

Sam Davies (32) helped rebuild the innings but it was a 78-run partnership between Paul Hockley and captain Tom Laskowski (32) that got things back on track.

Hockley paced his innings well but when he departed for 57, Pirton still needed 25 off 30 balls with only three wickets left.

Jake Laskowski, Dave Newman and, then, Dick Thompson, combined sensible batting with the odd boundary to make sure they saw Pirton home with two balls and two wickets to spare.