Belvedere travelled to Purnells and held out for a draw.

BELVEDERE travelled to second placed Purnells and having won the toss asked their hosts to bat first.

Belvedere made a good start as McCrea struck early, removing Francis well caught at point by Jones for two. Brooks soon followed as Watts clean bowled him for nine in his first over.

Crocker batted patiently while at the other end, the dangerous Nolan looked to attack, but Broadhead bowled him for 36. Crocker and Gregory looked to bat sensibly taking few risks until Watts lured Crocker into chipping to Hosey at mid-on.

Wickets began to flow regularly as C Redwood and D Redwood both fell leg before to Broadhead (2-50) and McCrea (2-53) respectively. Gregory began to hit out making 50 before being caught at square leg by Jones off Watts.

L Redwood looked to push the Purnells scoring rate late on before being well caught by Cornish off Watts (4-47). A quick fire 19 from Casling nearly got Purnells to 200 however, Cornish (1-44) dismissed Curtis to leave Purnells finishing on 198-9.

In reply, Belvedere lost Cornish in the first over as L Redwood bowled him. Chadwick and Jones showed good application, but L Redwood struck twice in quick succession having Jones (14) leg before and yorking Joe Gadd in the same over.

With Chadwick and Crockett battling hard, the rain came. After a sharp storm, play began with Belvedere having only 38 overs to get the hosts total.

Chadwick (39) and Crockett (11) showed excellent defensive technique as Purnells attacked with men around the bat. The hosts sensed victory when Chadwick fell leg before to Gregory and Crockett mis-timed to mid-off.

Youngsters McCrea and Hosey showed excellent application, batting out several overs before both fell to good catches by Casling off Gregory and Francis. With time running out, Watts and Hancock saw out the remaining overs without any scares as Belvedere finished on 102-7.

Belvedere picked up 26 valuable points in this rain-affected game. W-s-M Auto Electricals man of the match went to Rob Watts.

PURNELLS

N Crocker c Hosey b Watts 32

M Francis c Jones b McCrea 2

M Brooks b Watts 9

D Nolan b Broadhead 36

P Gregory c Jones b Watts 50

C Redwood lbw Broadhead 0

D Redwood lbw McCrea 8

L Redwood c Cornish b Watts 8

R Casling not out 19

A Curtis b Cornish 2

S Jones not out 5

Extras 27

Total (9 wkts) 198

Bowling: M Cornish 12-2-44-1; S McCrea 12-0-53-2; M Broadhead 11-2-50-2; R Watts 10-0-47-4.

BELVEDERE

N Chadwick lbw Gregory 39

M Cornish b L Redwood 0

J Jones lbw L Redwood 14

Joe Gadd b L Redwood 0

K Crockett c Crocker b C Redwood 11

M Hosey c Casling b Francis 2

S McCrea c Casling b Gregory 3

R Watts not out 3

N Hancock not out 1

Extras 26

Total (7 wkts) 102