Looking to follow up the resounding win from the previous week, Alton 2XI hosted a strong Parley side who had narrowly missed promotion last year. It was a hot day at the JCG, but with a bit of grass on the deck Alton elected to bowl first to make use of it.

In the absence of his normal opening partner Arul Appavoo (3-35) stepped up with two early wickets, but Parley were able to rebuild and keep the scoreboard moving throughout.

Some tight spin bowling from Kartik Tank (1-29) kept them in check, and all the bowlers chipped in with regular wickets, but a late surge from Parley's Ollie Green (58) boosted the visitors to 236 on a deck with some assistance for the seamers.

Alton started the chase smoothly, with Michael Heffernan (33) putting the Brewers ahead of the rate, and in spite of a couple quick wickets, the hosts were very well poised at 102-2.

However, when Heffernan fell at this stage Parley were able to turn the screw and effectively utilised the springy pitch with some short pitched bowling to dry up the runs.

Thomas Saunders (5-26) was then able to use the pressure to snatch some important wickets, and despite a late flurry from Matt Crane (31), Alton fell agonisingly short to lose by just 17 runs.

A disappointing loss for the brewers, but there were some positives in pushing a strong Parley side so far that are ready to be taken into next week's trip to Paultons.