Amersham staved off a spirited fightback from Gerrards Cross to claim their ninth consecutive Home Counties Premier League Division Two win on Saturday.

The hosts were made to fight tooth and nail for the win and eventually ran out narrow five-run winners.

Having won the toss, Amersham opted to bat first and owed much to the innings of Bruce Friderichs as he scored a classy 75.

He was ably assisted in the early stages by Luke Jackson smashing 22 from 17 balls to set the pace for the innings.

Amersham looked nicely set to post a score well in excess of 200 but a lack of support for Friderichs saw them conclude their innings on 214.

Elliot Green and Jonathan Denning were Cross’ main wicket takers as they claimed 3-38 and 3-54 respectively.

Amersham’s score was still comfortably defendable and they looked set for a stroll to victory after Cross stumbled to 38-4.

With the threat of relegation still looming large, Cross were not about to go down without a fight though and began to rally.

William Hunt’s 26 provided a useful starting point for their recovery and Jasraj Grewal picked up the baton to score 45.

Cross now had a chance to secure an unlikely win and tail enders Richard Knudson (29 not out) and Green (32) took them agonisingly close to their target.

Green’s departure with the score on 204 ended their hopes though and they closed out their innings on 209-9.

Haseeb Ali was the man responsible for Green’s departure and his 5-48 made him Amersham’s most productive bowler.