Whitchurch 2nd XI all but secured their Division G West playing rights for 2025 with a superb, all-round team performance against promotion-chasing Plymouth Civil Service.

Whitchurch were asked to bat first and made a solid start. Key contributions from Swabey, Endean (25) and Payne (32) were built around a belligerent knock from McKenzie.

At 144-3 with 8 overs to go, Whitchurch thought they had the base to press on to a dominated total, but a pitch offering increasingly variable bounce showed the challenges that would lay ahead. A mini collapse saw them slip to 152-7.

164-7 was the final tally and then they kickstarted the bowling attack with a first-over takedown of Tariq by Hall.

24 wides could have been problematic but skipper Webber took two wickets in his first over to put his team on top.

They closed out the game and won by 44 runs, Webbers finishing with four for 17 and Russell three for 17.