BUNWELL CC Sunday XI's first league game of the season was against Kirkley.

A tough encounter was expected after two hard-fought games last season but Bunwell notched up a notable victory.

A fantastic result for Bunwell, as Kirkley's team included six or seven players from a higher level.

After winning the toss, skipper sensation Parfitt was confident of posting a high total with a very strong batting line-up.

Unfortunately, J Hipperson (6) was out first over, being bowled the ball after he had hit a mighty six into the field. This brought to the crease G Barnes (14), and with N Aston (37) and they put together a quick partnership of 45 off just seven overs, mainly due to some hefty blows from the bat of Aston.

The latter was next out, bringing Parfitt (110) to the crease.

After a shaky start, he soon took the game to the Kirkley bowlers, and was hitting shots to every part of the ground. He had a steady flow of partners join him at the crease, each for brief spells. Parfitt then eventually fell with the score on 188. I Nichols and G Robbie added 23 more runs at the end of the innings to bring Bunwell's final total to a very competitive 213.

Bunwell opened their bowling attack with B Woods and N Aston. Thankfully, Woods kept it exceptionally tight at one end, as Aston was quite wayward.

First change brought I Nichols and G Robbie on to bowl, and with a fine spell of spin bowling, between them they bowled a very tight 17 overs, along with a fantastic fielding performance, exemplified by a run- out from G Barnes and S Turner.

Kirkley never looked likely to reach Bunwell's total. Only one Kirkley player managed to score more than 15 runs, and their innings ended after just 30 overs with their score on 103.

Bunwell: J Hipperson b R Guy 6, N Aston c Meadows 37, G Barnes b Clabburn 14, D Parfitt c Meadows 110, S Turner b Pask 3, G Pitcher b R Guy 9, A Henderson b C Guy 1, I Nichols not out 11, T Robbie run out 12, N Barber not out 0.

Total (9 wkts): 213.

Bowling: R Guy 10-0-72-2, C Meadows 9-1-34-3, S Clabburn 8-1-29-1, W Pask 3-0-30-1, C Guy 10-1-44-1.

Kirkley: C Guy b Nichols 12, M Pavier b Wood 7, R Daniels b Nichols 0, S Clabburn run out 12, D Palfrey c Barber 5, I T not out 30, J Stewart b Nichols 1, M Dan b Robbie 3, R Guy c Robbie 4, C Meadows lbw Robbie 12, W Pask c Robbie 12, W Pask c Robbie 0.

Total: 103.

Bowling: B Wood 6-4-5-1, N Aston 4-0-23-0, I Nichols 10-3-22-3, N Barber 4-0-24-1, G Robbie 7-0-27-4.