Dogged Bexhill grab draw

The visitors looked to be heading for defeat until captain Steve Phillimore joined forces with Alan Cowley to put the breaks on the Littlehampton attack.

This was Bexhill's second recovery of the match because the hosts had threatened to pile on the runs until Australian all-rounder Peter Lewis came to the fore with bowling figures of 7-90.

Phillimore said: "They played better than us but we recovered well. To come back into the game and hold them to 219-9 was a good achievement. Peter Lewis bowled well."

Lewis made an immediate impact picking up a couple of wickets to reduce Littlehampton to 45-2 before Gary Tester (85) and Benn Challen (65) shared a partnership of 123 for the third wicket.

Littlehampton looked on course for 250 plus until Lewis returned to the attack to claim another five victims which restricted the home side to a much more modest total of 219-9 off 54 overs.

Bexhill were soon in trouble as they limped to 23-4. Martin Phillimore (25) helped to steady the ship but at 100-8 the visitors were staring down the barrel until Steve Phillimore (38 not out) and Cowley (13 not out) survived the best that Littlehampton could throw at them and finished on 150-8.

The teams meet again at the Polegrove on Saturday June 28.