A TENSE finish saw Cornish visitors Werrington edge home against Sidmouth with two balls to spare, writes John Goodwin.

A seventh wicket partnership of 98 by the vistors’ Ben Smeeth and Paul Smith took their side to the brink of victory, but two catches behind in four balls, induced by Will Gater, gave the home side new hope.

Smeeth kept his nerve to take his side to the final over needing two to win. A leg bye tied the scores and last man Tom Lyle squeezed the ball just past his leg stump to scramble a winning single.

It was a game in which both sides' early batsmen, with the exception of Sidmouth's Josh Bess who made 57, struggled.

Bess drove crisply but was undone by a flying catch at mid wicket. It was one of several good catches held by the Werrington fielders.

The home side recovered from 66-4 and 103-6 to reach 215 thanks to a 73-run stand for the seventh wicket between Jamie Wardrop, 35, and skipper Will Murray, who was 65 not out at the close of the innings.

The captain plundered the mid-off and cover boundary and struck the only six of the innings in the push for runs in the final over.

Werrington's innings followed a similar pattern and, at 102-7, Sidmouth looked poised for victory.

But Smeeth and Smith patiently rebuilt and a turning point came when the former hit the last of Murray's nine overs for 16 runs - to leave him with final figures of 1-30.

Miles Dalton, who bowled eight overs for 23, saw his last over go for 19 as Werrington got into the chase and Smith backed away to hit him for two sixes over extra cover.

Bess injured a knee after landing on it heavily trying to pull off a spectacular catch and left the field unable to finish his quota of overs.

No-one seemed able stem the flow of runs until John Goodwin pouched Smith and Werrington's number 10 for a duck off Gater to keep the contest alive until the final over.

?The opposition at the Fort Field on Saturday is Western League side Taunton Deane.