Last Sunday the Dartmouth and District T20 league got off to a flying start with an enthralling match between The Seale Arms and The Ship in Dock.

On a gloriously sunny afternoon, The Ship in Dock won the toss and elected to bowl.

The Seale Arms started off rather cautiously on a wicket that provided a hint of movement for the seam bowlers.

However when Liam Boyd (26) was joined at the crease by Will Lockerbie (27), the runs started to flow and the pressure was put firmly back on the fielding side.

Both batsman prospered as the bowlers lost their confidence and were unable to find a threatening length, with anything short promptly dispatched to the boundary.

The Ship in Dock would have been disappointed to see a number of chances go down as The Seale Arms reached an impressive 131-4 after their 20 overs.

The Ship in Dock made a terrible to start to their innings as they lost opener Freddy Prettyjohns extremely cheaply.

A lack of footwork and technique let him down as he was bowled for a golden duck.

A wicket followed in the second over as John Dingle got the ball to nip back in to remove the batsman's off bail.

A watchful innings from Ed Moores (21) and a clinical innings from Shuman Ahmed (23) helped set the stage for Dave Sheerham (28) to come in and do his best to impersonate West Indian batsman Chris Gayle.

His bat was on fire and it did not take him long to reach his 25 and out. With a flurry of sixes and fours, it took him just under two overs to put his side well on course for the win.

With five overs to go and only 20 runs required, The Ship in Dock were already celebrating, however Luke Webber bowled superbly to swing the game back into The Seale Arms' favour.

With 10 runs needed off the last over and two tail-end batsmen at the crease, the game was surely in the bag for The Seale Arms, all they needed to do was stick a stamp on the envelope and post it.

Nerves got the better of them, though, with two wide deliveries followed by a four through midwicket putting the wind back in The Ship's sails.

Some decisive running meant that with two balls remaining The Ship in Dock required only two runs for victory. Jake Moores tucked the ball modestly to square leg and immediately called for two.

There was only a single available and he was run out with the scores level and only one ball to come. Young number 11 batsman Robson showed no nerves as he elegantly flicked the last ball down to fine leg for four to earn his team victory.

Man of the match went to Dave Sheerham for his destructive batting. Both sides would like to thank all the spectators that turned up, Jim Brent and Pete Foster for all the hard work they have put in to get the season started and SHDC for use of the park.

The next games will take place on May 19, when the Market House take on The Royal Mail followed by The Dartmouth Arms against The Seale Arms.