JUST three Hunts County Bats League matches survived the weather over the weekend with Huntingdon III beating Upwood II and Buckden II beating Little Paxton in Division Five.

Huntingdon won the toss in their Sunday match and batted first with the top three batsmen all making good runs. Ben George hit a decent 40, Murray Reid 28 and Jake Irwin 39 to get the hosts off to the perfect start and they reached 95 for one in 25 overs.

However, the bowling of Neil Tuffin (three for 32) and Jason Short (three for 19) – as well as a one-handed backwards dive boundary catch from Mitch Newman – helped Upwood peg them back, Huntingdon completing their 45 overs on 198 for nine.

Upwood’s chase got off to a steady start but a flurry of quick wickets from Alistair George (three for 32) soon had the visitors struggling.However, a masterful counter attacking partnership from Jamie Hutchraft (79) and Zac Stevens (38) put Upwood in charge to give them the win.

Buckden beat Paxton by 30 runs after posting a target of 227, while in Division Four Jinnah completed a 92-run victory over Ramsey III.

Only a handful of games survived Saturday’s downpours in the Cambs & Hunts League – but none involving teams from Huntingdonshire.

Meanwhile, Eaton Socon were the winners of the under-9s cricket tournament held at Waresley on Sunday.

But it was also a good day for Little Paxton, who came third and tasted victory for the first time as a team.

In the group stages the Paxton youngsters lost a close match to Houghton & Wyton by three runs before being beaten by the eventual winners Eaton. It was in the final group game that their first victory came when some fine fielding – three run outs and two catches – saw them beat Waresley A.

With three teams locked on one win each, it was down to run rates and Paxton squeezed through to the third and fourth place play-off by the tightest of margins.

In that game, some disciplined catching and bowling restricted opponents Ramsey and then some steady batting saw only one wicket lost. A few hearty blows at the end of the innings sealed Little Paxton’s second victory.