ON the hottest day of the year so far, stand-in skipper Craig Duxbury won the toss, much to the relief of his team-mates.

But as the afternoon progressed and after either batting or standing in the heat for over three hours, the Prestwich players visibly wilted in the second half and bowled a

mixture of half volleys and half trackers to lose by seven wickets.

Steven Lorenzini and Craig Duxbury opened the innings but were both out by the 20th over with the score on 52.

Hudson went to Mustafa's googly one run later but then a 138 partnership for the fourth wicket by Ian Walker and Andrew Taylor took Prestwich to the brink of 200.

Walker scored his third ton for Prestwich, passing 900 runs in a prolific season, whilst Taylor's 43 was his

top first XI score.

After their dismissal, quickly followed by Mercer and Thomas, Walters and Bradley enjoyed a brief flurry to finish on 205-8. Jason Stringer's figures of 4-51 in 16 overs was an excellent effort in the conditions.

Lomas and McCheyne, the Woodbank openers made hay while the sun shone, scoring one short of a century stand in 17 overs before Lomas was bowled by Walters for 54.

Duxbury, who bowled a fine spell, took two wickets in two balls to remove McCheyne and Jason Stringer with the score on 129, but then Ridehaugh and Mark Stringer scored the 78 needed for victory in a canter in

just under 13 overs -- Woodbank winning the game with 14 over to spare.

All in all, this was one of the most disappointing performances of the season, bearing in mind the one-sided affair at Prestwich a few weeks ago when the rain came to Woodbanks rescue.

However, the elements were against Woodbank on more than one occassion last year and who knows, with a good

side and a little bit of luck, they could be adding the second part to a "double" before the end of the season.

Prestwich

S Lorenzini c Ridehaugh b J Stringer...15

C Duxbury lbw J Stringer...14

I Walker lbw J Stringer...103

M Hudson lbw Mustafa...0

A P Taylor st Ridehaugh b M Stringer...43

P Mercer c & b M Stringer...0

C Thomas lbw J Stringer...0

P Walters run out...8

A Bradley not out...6

J McAndrew not out...0

Extras...16

Total (for 8)...205

M Stringer 18-2-58-2; J Stringer 16-6-51-4; B Mustafa 9-2-33-1; A Sensale 4-0-17-0; D McCheyne 3-0-30-0.

Woodbank

S Lomas b P Walters...54

D McCheyne c Bradley b Duxbury...45

N Ridehaugh not out...45

J Stringer lbw Duxbury...0

M Stringer not out...43

Extras...20

Total (for 3, 35.5 overs)...207

A Bradley 8-1-44-0; A P Taylor 5-1-32-0; C Duxbury 10.5-2-35-2; A Blake 1-0-13-0; P Walters 5-0-30-1; S Lorenzini 6-1-38-0.