Penzance enjoy a perfect weekend with two wins

IT WAS a good weekend for Penzance Cricket Club as they took over at the top of the Bond Timber Cornwall Premier Division and then, 24 hours later, made progress to the last 16 in the Rothesay National Club Championship.

- MICHAEL WEEKS

Despite the significant rain of the previous couple of days, only six games were cancelled in the entire League. In the Premier, 50-over games were played at Helston and St Just and delayed starts, by an hour, at Redruth and St Austell.

Callington were less fortunate as their game with Truro had to be called off due to persistent showers falling in south-east Cornwall during the afternoon.

Penzance won at morning leaders Redruth, but it was a close-run affair. A brief shower midway through the first innings reduced the match from 40 to 38 overs.

Redruth lost two early wickets to Mehran Sanwal (3-29) before Toby Stoddard made 23 and Dulash Udayanga hit 42. He was out near the end of the modest 125-7.

Justin Beaton (3-22) then dismissed Christian Purchase and Nic Halstead-Cleak with only a single on the board, and Jack Paull became his third victim at 27-3.

Grant Stone (25) and Charlie Sharland (37) recovered to 86 before four wickets fell for 11 runs at 97-7 with still 30 required on the DLS adjusted target.

Matt Stevens hit 17 before the ninth wicket pair of Jonny Ludlam and Tom Dinnis got the remaining 16 runs.

The following day, Purchase hit 153 not out in the eight-wicket win at Bristol's Golden Hill. It was a repeat of the success a year earlier at the same venue in the National Club Championship.

Requiring 215, the winning runs came with 11 overs to spare to set up a home tie with Bridgwater in round four.