Hurstbourne Priors v IBM Hursley.

A rain affected match was the downfall for Hurstbourne Priors despite bossing most of the game.

Batting first Ashok Nautiyal (24) and Steve Cady (18) put on 40 for the first wicket and when both went quickly Richard Carter (27) and Mark Hamson (20) put on a further 47 against some impressive bowling.

The conditions were conducive for bowling but Priors took their time to amass a decent total. Mark Mathews (31) took his opportunity to bat ahead of the big hitting Ady Budd by placing three big sixes into the field before he fell to skipper Nick Wood.

Priors rallied to get the last few runs with the effervescent Tony Blyth scampering to reach 159 at the break.

Priors’ weakness in recent weeks has been their bowling so they opted for their two premier bowlers to make use of the favourable conditions.

Budd bowled some unplayable deliveries and at the other end Stewart Samways removed Pollard when Godfrey Pegler swooped to snaffle a low chance.

Hood followed when Budd trapped him at 21-3 when the rain arrived over Hurstbourne hill. With a reduced rate favouring the batting side, Hitesh Tailor (49) played with real positivity and took the game away from Priors and with the rate of less than five an over, this was never a problem as they got home with a couple of overs to spare.