4's slump to home defeat

Paul Atkins took a maiden Hat trick against Rankins 3's on Saturday but ended up on the losing side as an abject batting performance left the bowlers with simply too much to do.

Batting first Brook slumped to 6-4 as Rankins bowlers ran riot, Leadbetter and youngster's Ivory and Sleight falling cheaply and then talisman Darren Ivory being blown up first ball.

Sam Wood led the recovery with a hard hit 30 but wickets continued to fall with only Owen Elsoms 18 and Ricci Parnells 22 helping Brook into 3 figures.

Rankins had 51 overs to score 104 but were themselves in early trouble as Owen Elsom grabbed a brace without a run on the board. Atkins then found his length and bowled all three victims to the delight of his team mates for a maiden hat trick at the age of 43. Ricci Parnell nabbed a further two wickets to leave the visitors languishing on 50-8 but from there the experienced Peter Warner nurdled his way to 44* to take Rankins to victory with 10 overs to spare.