THE first round Lady Feversham Cup tie between Harome and High Farndale proved to be an excellent advertisement for the league with plenty of good cricket played by both sides and an exciting climax which kept the spectators enthralled.

Harome, who field mainly a young side these days, batted first in the 18-over contest and attained a reasonably respectable total of 119-6.

Luke Houlibeque led the way with a promising innings of 33, assisted by cameos from James Greenlay (14), Chris Petch (13) and M Haines (12).

High Farndale's bowlers generally gave nothing away, with best performances coming from Chris Wilson and Adam Robinson, who had identical figures of 2-24.

When Harome took the field they knew they had to remove High Farndale opener Brian Leckenby early, but it was not to be. He was eventually dismissed after an exhilarating innings of 99, caught off the first ball of the last over.

High Farndale's march towards victory then suddenly faltered and the last ball of the match arrived with the visitors still requiring two runs to win.

Chris Wilson, the batsman on strike, decided to play safe and opt for the one run needed for a tie and a replay. He duly played the ball defensively and ran. A Harome fielder, sensing possible glory with a run out, shied at the stumps, only for the ball to miss the stumps and speed to the boundary for four overthrows, giving High Farndale victory by five wickets. Petch achieved Harome's best bowling analysis with figures of 3-25.

In complete contrast, the Wombleton v Nawton Grange Lady Feversham Cup tie was a grossly one-sided affair, as Nawton Grange's 207-run victory implies.

Wombleton were forced to field three youngsters under the age of 13 and Nawton Grange proceeded to indulge in a run feast.

Mark Rymer seemed a certain centurion when he was bowled by Tom Teasdale on 99, but his partner Justin Palmer was exactly 100 not out when the 20 overs expired with a massive 235-3 on the board.

Wombleton then subsided to 28 all out, Stutchberry and Shaun Smith taking three wickets apiece.

Slingsby defeated Gillamoor by 28 runs in another first round Lady Feversham cup tie. A good innings by M Piercy (47) provided Slingsby with the solid base they needed to achieve a challenging total, ending on 123-4. Gillamoor tried to make a genuine attempt to overhaul this total, but were eventually pegged back to 95-6. W Fawcett did most of the damage for Slingsby, taking 3-10 in his five overs, and Fraser Land chipped in with two wickets.

W Gibson (26no), T Clements (20no) and E Harland (16) fought manfully for Gillamoor, but the task proved beyond them.

Lady Feversham Cup semi-finals, to be played by July 8: Nawton Grange v Spout House, High Farndale v Slingsby.