ABBOTSKERSWELL were left to lick their wounds and ponder where it all went wrong after suffering a hefty 87 run home defeat at the hands of Kilmington.

Kilmington applied themselves with the bat to make 209 for nine in 50 overs, which proved way too many for Abbots to chase. Abbotskerswell were in trouble from the first over after tea against Ollie Reed and Josh Cann as they slumped to eight for five in reply.

The middle order showed some gumption to stave off total embarrassment, but what Reed and Cann started was finished off by Rob Crabb and Josh Short as Abbots careered to 122 all out.

Nick Watkin, the Abbotskerswell captain, was succinct in his reaction.

‘More than 200 on a wet wicket and wet outfield was about 50 above par – and so it proved,’ said Watkin. ‘You are not going to win many games when you are eight for five.’

Liam Hurse, Abbots’ new Aussie recruit, and Watkin were cheap to operate with the ball. Par Singh’s three for 14 off 10 topped the bowling stats.

‘I thought Par Singh bowled really well on his debut,’ said Watkin.

‘Bowling-wise we bowled too many balls that were too easy to hit for boundaries and dropped too many catches.’

After Reed (3-9) and Cann (2-17) did their stuff early on, it was down to James Tyler (28), Hurse with a watchful 34 and Kyle Rich (26) to salvage bonus points.

Crabb (3-36) got into the lower order with two wickets in two balls, leaving Short to prise out Hurse.