Thurrock 149

Bentley 151-8

CRICKET: THURROCK lost their fourth Premier Division game in a row by two wickets at home to Bentley.

The hosts won the toss and batted first but could only post 149 from a rain-reduced 40 overs, writes Bill West.

The batting from Thurrock has been below-par in recent weeks and unfortunately on Saturday this was no different. There were no scores of over 50.

But there were some good contributions from Umar Ayub (31), Daniel Laird (34) and captain Nick Henry (38).

A small number of runs is always difficult to defend, and the total looked like it was going to be chased down easily with Bentley on 108-4.

But Thurrock battled back and took four wickets for two runs to leave the vistors reeling on 110-8.

But a crucial 41-run 9th-wicket partnership between Matt Coleman and Steve Flack sealed the match.