There was nothing to separate Uphill Castle thirds and Temple Cloud seconds as both sides had to settle for an opening day draw.

Uphill captain James Robinson won the toss and decided to bowl first but an early breakthrough proved elusive despite some tight bowling and after 20 overs Temple Cloud were well placed at 69-1.

With wickets in hand Temple Cloud accelerated the scoring and finished on 224-4, with Neve Kennedy (1- 31), Mark Patch (1-38), Robinson (1-39) and Tom Miller (1-34) the wicket takers.

In reply Uphill Castle lost Hallam Bickell without scoring and a heavy downpour followed and delayed play for more than an hour, hampering Uphill Castle's run chase.

With reduced overs to try and reach the target Castle opted to play for a draw and they achieved this, mainly thanks to a very watchful innings from man of the match Gareth Lloyd (44 not out).

Stephen Loud (31) combined solid defensive play with some lusty blows as Castle ended up on 123-6.