Opener Brent Williams stars with stunning century as Papplewick & Linby win again

Brent Williams hit a superb 149 in Papplewick & Linby's win.

Captain Ben Trevor-Jones paid tribute to his sides opening batsmen as Papplewick & Linby continued their good start to the season with a 44-run victory in a high-scoring encounter at Attenborough on Saturday.

With Trevor-Jones winning the toss and opting to bat first, opener Brent Williams vindicated that decision by hitting a stunning 149, which included 22 fours and a six, while Louis Bhabra struck 55 as the pair put on 142 for the opening wicket.

Runs didn’t come so freely once Williams was out with the score on 260 but Papplewick closed on 323-7 to set a considerable target.

Attenborough also batted well with skipper Ben Shaw scoring 84 and Harry Franklin 82 but they collapsed from 240-4 to 251-7 and whilst they still had a wicket standing at the end of the innings, they were still well short of the target, Ben Bhabra having taken 4 for 65.

For Trevor-Jones, the opening stand was the key to the win, particularly given the display from his fellow Aussie Williams.

He said: “Attenborough isn’t usually renowned for its batting conditions but looking back it was definitely a good toss to win given how we started although it can be a bit of an exploration when you bat first.

"Brent and Louis have been scoring quickly and put us in a great position. Their partnerships have been key for us so far.

"Brent’s an exceptional player, which he’s proven for us in his performances last season and this. This was one of the best innings I’ve seen him bat and he struck the ball so well.

"Attenborough have a really good bowling attack, especially their seamers, so to have been averaging seven an over by the 20th over was remarkable.”

Papplewick now prepare to host Wollaton on Saturday as they aim to make it three out of three.

Trevor-Jones added: “We hope to continue. We’re batting really well to put us in good positions but we can’t expect it to be like that in every game and it’s up to the whole team to make their performances count.

“We have great squad depth and that will be key to what we want to achieve.”