By Richard Tilley SANDFORD St Martin fell short of a place in the last 16 of the National Indoor Cricket Competition when they were beaten by Kidderminster at Wantage yesterday.

The Oxfordshire champions went down to their Worcestershire counterparts by only eight runs.

But while the tie might have appeared close on paper, Sandford never really looked like they were going to win it, and three sixes off the last three balls from young Ollie Murrey made the game look tighter than it was.

Chasing the visitors' total of 139-4 from 12 overs, Sandford made a positive start, with big-hitting opener Chas Taylor looking dangerous.

But Taylor was out in the second over, bowler Jim Ralph parrying a fierce drive from the former Middlesex seamer straight to brother Steve. Mark Robey fell to same combination and when Martin Anson was run out - a very marginal decision - Sandford were struggling at 47-3.

Phil Paterson and Murrey steadied the ship, but the home side gradually slipped behind the required rate, and 29 runs off the last over proved too much.

Earlier, Jim Ralph had top-scored for Kidderminster with a brilliant unbeaten 70. But Ralph was lucky to survive the first over, only a bobble on the mat preventing Robey from running him out - one of a number of bad bounces for Sandford in the field.

Story date: Monday 14 February

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