Old Mid-Whitgiftians 200-6
Cranleigh 155-7

A seventh wicket stand of 107 between Richard Lake and Chris Hill denied Old Mid-Whitgiftians an opening day victory as Cranleigh battled back to earn an unlikely draw.

Mids appeared to be strolling to victory after reducing their hosts to 44 for 6 but a loss of concentration and some indifferent bowling proved costly.

The top three batsmen all began impressively but were unable to deliver the big scores they had threatened as the unpredictable Stuart Martin took 2 for 27 to reduce Mids to 45 for 3.

However, returning overseas player Jamal Babu and new signing Stuart Sales made an instant impact with a stand of 134 to put Mids firmly in control of the game.

With little penetration offered by the Cranleigh bowlers it took a breakdown in communication between the batsmen to end the stand as a misunderstanding saw Sales run out for 64.

Babu was then caught at mid-on for 72 shortly before Mids declared after 39 overs on 200 for 6.

The OMW bowlers have been the nemesis of the Cranleigh batsmen in recent meetings and history looked set to repeat itself as the hosts' top order collectively crumbled once again.

Mike Brugnoli took three wickets and Paul Gardner two to leave Mids with an ample 24 overs to dismiss the last four batsmen.

Yet Richard Lake showed a determination to play positively from the outset,. receiving excellent support from Chris Hill.

He smashed 66 from just 64 balls as a loss of focus saw Mids lose their grip on the match. Hill slowly grew in confidence after a nervous start to contribute an unbeaten 45 to the match-saving partnership.

Lake's eventual dismissal came too late to affect the result as Mids were forced to settle for four points.