EAST Preston Cricket Club stormed to an emphatic six-wicket victory over local rivals Clymping on Saturday in West Sussex Invitation League Division 1, thanks to an excellent bowling display.

EP recorded a 30-point victory and climbed to third in the table after their attack limited Clymping to just 99 all out in 44.2 overs on a bowler-friendly wicket, before they knocked off the total in just 24.5 overs.

Having lost the toss, despite hanging around, the Clymping batsmen failed to get the deliveries off the square as EP’s Mark Coskin (3-27), Tom Chamberlain (3-32) and Richard Laker (3-28) all shared the wickets.

Only four of the Clymping men made double figures in a slow day for runs, with opener Gary Tester making just 18 off 105 balls and captain Chris Green hitting 17 off 71 deliveries, before they were the fourth and fifth men out respectively, which made the score 55-5.

Karl Pierce added 22 off 26 balls, and George Gaskin hit a speedy 14 before they lost their last four wickets for 10 runs.

EP skipper Richard Laker hailed it as a great win for his side, and said: “Our opening bowlers were simply too good on the day and ensured Clymping’s batsmen could not score runs.

“Their run rate for the first 30 overs was less than 1.5 per over. It was another excellent fielding display all round and some more great catches to mirror last week’s efforts.

“Mark Coskin bowled 16 overs on the bounce and ended with figures of 3-27, in an excellent display of bowling.

“Tom Chamberlain also bowled extremely well up front and then came back to finish off with a well-deserved 3-32.

“And Dan Williams went for just 10 runs in his 10 overs, keeping things very tight.”

In response, the wicket also looked to be working for Clymping as James Salisbury and Gaskin knocked off three quick wickets to make the score 26-3.

But Jack Sunderland (47 not out) and Tim Miles (25) got set and added 69 for the fourth wicket and, although Miles was caught by Gaskin off Chris Hanks’ bowling five runs short of victory, they comfortably got home.

Laker said: “Tim Miles and Jack Sunderland, who bravely played with a serious Achilles injury, made things look incredibly easy and saw us comfortably across the finish line with 20 overs to spare, and, more importantly, before the rain came.”

Clymping skipper Chris Green said: “The scorecard does lie slightly as, without taking anything away from their bowlers, it was pretty much a win the toss, win the game scenario.

“We’d had the pitch covered but the sheer volume of rain had got through on to the wicket, just short of a length, which made batting virtually impossible at times.

“All credit to their bowlers, though, they bowled exceptionally well in friendly conditions.

“If conditions had stayed the same throughout, 140 would, potentially, have been a winning score.

“It was raining on and off during our innings but the sun came out after tea and stayed out until 10 minutes after the game finished, when it rained again.

“It just seemed that everything conspired against us on the day but I can’t take anything away from the way East Preston played.”

Laker added: “The past two weeks East Preston have started to show what should have been evident in the first few weeks of the season.

“Our aims now are to continue in this fashion and look to chase down Wisborough Green at the top.”