Bashley hosted a strong Fair Oak side in their first game of the season. Fair Oak, who elected to bat first, got off to a poor start losing their first wicket with the score on 3 when Jason Eede (7-3-10-1) had Thomas Hockenhull caught behind. Fair Oak then added 87 runs for their next partnership before the Bashley spinners took control. Neil Taylor (10-2-22-3) and Ross Grierson (10-1-38-1) bowled beautifully together to restrict Fair Oak to 128-5. A late flourish from Fair Oak saw them through to 204-7 from their 50 overs with opener Will Hughes carrying his bat through the whole innings for 80*.
The Bashley openers, Simon Morris (21) and Jay Van Wyk (14) got off to a solid start before Ross Stewart (8-0-37-2) bowled the latter. With the score on 82-3, Phil Morris and the returning Ben Nolan-Stone (16) added a much-needed partnership of 47. Pierre Van Wyk then added a quick 11 before Patrick Lewis made a very valuable 24 before being run out with only 2 runs left to win. Phil Morris struck the winning runs, which capped a magnificent innings of 96 not out and ensured Bashley started the season with a win.
