Peel and St John’s beat Cronkbourne by just 14 runs in a thrilling game at the top of the Premiership on Saturday.

Batting first the Saints were rocked by a fiery opening spell from Sam Mills. He quickly claimed a couple of wickets to leave the champions reeling at two wickets down for only six runs. Chris Hawke steadied the side, but was trapped for 30 by Matt Ansell. He struck again to leave Peel and St John’s in trouble at 48 for 4. Nick Hawke and Nick White came to the rescue with a stand of 87 before Hawke was caught and bowled by Max Stokoe for 43 and White became Ansell’s third victim for 37. The Saint’s lower order hit out to take the total to 217 with the last wicket falling off the final ball of the 40th over. Dan Hawke made 31 and Kieran Cawte ended on 20 not out. Mills finished with an excellent 3 -24 and Ansell bowled well to return 3 -35.

In reply the Douglas batsmen made a confident start, but with the score on at 33 Max Stokoe was lbw to Russ Miller and Dan Hawke accounted for Nathan Pope. Two more wickets fell and Cronkbourne were 48 for 4 – the same score from which the Saints started their recovery. This time Jaco Jansen and Nathan Knights staged an even more impressive revival. After a defensive start, they went on the attack and with a century stand took the game away from the home side.

In a dramatic move, skipper Ollie Webster asked keeper Nick Hawke to take off the pads and come on to bowl. His first over went for ten, but then came the turning point. The stand had put on 111 when Hawke had Jansen brilliantly caught on the boundary by Phil Littlejohns. The left hander had made a fine 51, but Knights followed shortly when bowled by Hawke for 48. Sam Kebbell took up the challenge and, with two overs left, Cronkbourne were 18 runs behind with two overs and two wickets left. In a tense finish Dan Hawke dismissed Kebbell for 25 and Nick White took a stunning catch running around the long-on boundary. The margin of defeat was only 14 runs and both teams are to be praised for staging one of the best games seen on the island for many years.

Elsewhere in the Premiership Castletown resumed their winning ways with a five wicket victory over Crosby. The Marown club made 136 for 9, led by Drew Buxton (37) and Jamie Brown (36). Tom Kennaugh (4 -16) did most of the damage while Joe Burrows took three wickets. Castletown wasted no time in getting the runs. Garreth Roome’s lively 45 made sure they reached their target in 21 overs. James Harrison took 3 -28, but could not stop the Town bagging 20 points for their victory.