Normandy 198-9 Reigate Priory 197 Reigate Priory first XI narrowly failed to overcome determined Premier League newcomers Normandy in a nail-biting finish on Saturday.

It was a match in which the result was in doubt until the final delivery. But despite the defeat, Priory still find themselves in second place in the table, and still in contention to challenge for the title.

Priory skipper Gregor Macmillan again lost the toss and Priory were asked to bat.

They got off to a steady start, with Rosengk and Diggles seeing off the new ball.

Diggles’ departure brought Bahutule to the wicket and he too was quick to despatch any loose deliveries to the boundary.

Rosengk perished shortly before lunch when trying to hit Sri Lankan spinner Bandara to the boundary. But with the score on 125-2 at lunch, the foundations for a decent Priory total was laid.

Unfortunately this was not to be, as the Priory batsmen were unable to deal with the accurate spin bowling of Normandy’s Elahi and Bandara. And wickets started to fall with undue regularity.

Bahutule progressed to his half century, but no other Priory batsmen could make a significant contribution, and felt that their total of 197 could have been considerably better.

Murtagh’s return to the side from Surrey duty gave early success as the wicketkeeper held on to a low chance to dismiss Normandy’s opener.

Priory’s slip catching was on form as Murtagh held on to an edge from Elahi to give Reigate renewed hope at 80-4.

Normandy’s Chris Cornell then showed excellent application to rebuff the Priory attack and slowly turned the game around. The score moved up to 160 without further loss.

The game nearly took a turn, as Bandara mistimed a full toss from Macmillan and was caught.

With Cornell also dismissed for 51, the returning Murtagh trapped Normandy skipper Simpson lbw without scoring. And Macmillan clung on to a reaction above his head.

Normandy needed three runs with two wickets in hand when the batsmen hit two of them and rashly attempted a third, only to be easily run out.

With scores level and one over remaining, the last pair were at the wicket.

Regrettably for Priory, Murtagh’s attempted yorker was dug out and squirted away for the winning run.

A valiant late effort by Priory was thwarted, but with leaders Guildford only managing a losing draw at Esher, Priory are still in touch at the top of the table.

They take on Malden Wanderers at home this weekend. A victory followed by the excitement of facing the Lashings all-star XI in the Charity Challenge on Sunday could make for a memorable weekend at Park Lane (see story, left).