Seconds left frustrated as victory chase falls just short

DEFEAT looked unlikely when Checkley's bowlers put the brakes on the Wedgwood Stanfields batsmen.

But wickets failed to arrive in sufficient volume as Saturday's Division Two B clash petered out into a winning draw for the home side.

The Four Trees outfit notched up a target of 180-9 largely through the exploits of Karl Alcock. At 48-5, the home side were in poor shape before Alcock more than held the innings together with an 111-run knock.

Chris Reeves (50) and Chris Holland (35) bagged the majority of Wedgwood's runs. But the run chase faltered in the face of Checkley's miserly attack. Adam Hewitt conceded 24 runs from his 13 overs, while Ian Stewart was even less generous, giving away nine runs off seven overs for his one wicket.