Cam 1st XI 248-4 beat Cheltenham 2nd XI 247-9 by 6 wickets

CAM registered their first win of the season as they comprehensively beat Cheltenham seconds by six wickets.

Following last week’s narrow defeat, Adam Holloway’s Cam side were asked to bowl first and found an early breakthrough hard to come by despite openers George Dolling and Ryan Western keeping things tight early on.

Ben Holloway made the first breakthrough as he had Cropper (35) held by Stuart Newman at first slip to break the solid opening partnership.

Soon after, debutant Marcus Tudor claimed his first Cam wicket as Jake Dolbear took a brilliant catch from a faint edge down the leg-side to remove Waters (30).

Cam’s bowlers continued to toil away but an imposing score always looked likely in near-perfect batting conditions.

The introduction of Alex Ballard helped to get Cam back into the game as he trapped Howell LBW (23) and had Haworth (45) and Collier (0) caught during his nine over spell, as numerous Cheltenham batsman made starts without being able to convert them into sizeable scores.

Cam could have limited their opponents further, but spilt chances in the field allowed them to push on past two hundred.

Some suicidal running saw Ryan Malpass run out Walsh for 18 before Western returned to pick up two wickets in two balls thanks to an LBW and a catch by wicketkeeper Dolbear.

Dolling picked up the ninth wicket in the last over, but Cheltenham will have been satisfied with their score of 248-9.

A fine batting wicket and fast outfield meant Cam were quietly confident that their target was well within reach and this proved to be the case as openers Malpass and Newman started with intent and vowed to punish any loose deliveries.

Malpass acted as the aggressor initially as he proved especially prolific off his legs.

For the second game in a row, Malpass brought up his fifty, his 57 ball effort taking Cam into a great position at the midway stage.

Newman, having batted with care in his first outing of the season, began to free his arms and also reached fifty as both batsman profited from numerous costly dropped chances by the Cheltenham fielders.

When Newman finally departed for 75 off 97 balls, the first wicket partnership of 171 had taken Cam firmly into the ascendency and into a position where it seemed impossible for them to lose the game.

Malpass continued to tick along as he mixed boundaries with singles to edge closer to a century.

Western came and went without scoring but Malpass was supported by Ben Holloway who started cautiously before launching an array of boundaries to bring Cam’s target within sight.

Malpass finally departed for 92 off 106 balls as he was caught eight short of his century, his innings having contained 14 fours.

Holloway continued to add boundaries before he was caught in the deep for 41 attempting to finish the game with a flourish.

Jake Dolbear and Tom Deakin made sure of victory with overs to spare as they knocked off the remaining runs to seal a comfortable six wicket win.