Chesham’s imperious start to the Thames Valley League Division One campaign came to a shuddering halt on Saturday as they suffered their first defeat of the season.

Having elected to bowl first Chesham appeared to have given themselves every chance of securing a win as they dismissed a stuttering Stoke Green side for 152.

Green’s paltry total looked a long way off after their openers made an aggressive start to their innings.

A change of approach and the introduction of Jack McIver (3-34) soon changed the course of the game as he bowled consistently to offer Green limited scoring opportunities.

McIver’s efforts in breaking down the Green resilience were backed up emphatically by the spin of Pip France.

The Chesham man has made a fine start to the season and continued the theme on a pitch which offered plenty of encouragement to the spinner, a trait which would later come back to bite Chesham.

He ultimately proved to be too much for the Green batsmen and ripped through the majority of their order to finish with 5-36.

Matt Yeabsley was the only other Chesham man to strike and claimed two late wickets to finish with 2-15.

A deteriorating pitch ensured Chesham’s chase would be far from simple and the spin team of Zulfi Butt and Sajid Aziz gave them a torrid time.

The pair bowled unchanged for all but three overs of the Chesham innings and gave Chesham a torrid time.

Only Andy Goddard made any real headway against the suffocating Green pressure as he fought hard to amass a gamely 34.

His efforts mattered little in the final outcome though and Chesham were dismissed for 120 in the 52nd over, some 32 runs short of their opponents score.

Despite the result, Chesham remain six points clear at the summit of the table after closest rivals Cove were held to a draw by Wokingham.

The two title candidates face off in Chesham’s next match on Saturday where the winner will be assured of a spot at the summit of the table.