CHURT missed their chance to claim another notable scalp, coming up 26 runs short in pursuit of Epsom’s modest 137 all out.

Victory moved Epsom above Churt into second place in the Surrey Championship Division Three. That seemed an unlikely scenario as Robbie Chhabra and Greg Talbot ripped through the top five, reducing the visitors to 43-5 after they had chosen to bat first at the Rec.

The middle-order trio of Jon Batley (44), Greg Hughes (32) and Scott Dunkerley (23) stopped the rot, but Eric Osner removed the tail and Epsom were bowled out in the 44th over.

Churt didn’t get the best of starts, but a good partnership between Toby Finneran (35) and Osner (28) seemed to take the sting out of Epsom’s attack.

However, Godfrey Stevens came on to bowl a match-winning spell for Epsom, taking 4-12 in 14 immaculate overs. Churt batted into the 51st over, but the runs had dried up almost completely and they were dismissed for 111.