THE quarter-finals of the Church Times Cricket Cup have been decided after the group stage ended this week. The biggest tie is Bristol v. London, a repeat of last year’s final (News, 14 September 2018).

The other quarter-finals are: Leeds v. Hereford; Lincoln v. Carlisle/Blackburn/Durham; and Canterbury/Rochester v. Exeter.

The group stages were beset with the usual problems of poor recruitment and bad weather. None the less, Southwark finally managed to take to the field for a game against Chelmsford.

Chelmsford struck early: Wylie clean bowled Percival in the first over. But from then on everything went Southwark’s way. Loft scored a classy century, and was supported steadily by Stanier and then by a dashing cameo from Coulson. Wylie was the pick of the Chelmsford bowling; Challis also bowled well, but with no luck.

Faced with a daunting target of 227, Chelmsford were in trouble instantly, thanks to Daley’s pace and Percival’s deceptive swing. Wallis showed brief defiance, but he was LBW to Ashton’s first ball in the Church Times competition. Henery, another debutant, found his length instantly, and twice in an over ripped out the leg stump.

Maseko also made her debut for Southwark, with two steady overs in the middle of the innings; but Chelmsford’s last man was run out by Gunasekera, chasing what was by then an impossible target.

Southwark: 227 for 5 (Loft 107, Stanier 53, Coulson 36*; Wylie 3-27).

Chelmsford: 49 all out (Wallis 21; Percival 2-11, Henery 2-12).

Southwark won by 178 runs.