Farnham’s first team suffered a chastening seven-wicket defeat away to Kempton in their first league outing of the year.

Batting first, Farnham posted 188 for nine from their 50 overs, thanks largely to a composed unbeaten 80 from league debutant Thomas Allam. After the visitors had slipped from 45 for one to 63 for four, Allam rebuilt the innings with patience and maturity on a difficult surface.

Nathan Thorpe had earlier made 22 and his opening partner Daniel Wakely added 14, but Farnham were rocked by an excellent spell from left-arm spinner Ethan Walsh, who tore through the middle order with figures of four for 20 from ten miserly overs. This was aided by some poor shot selection from the Farnham batters, causing the innings to splutter after an initially smooth start.

Allam anchored the innings and managed to find some useful support from Michael O’Mahony (15), Tom Wheeler (17) and Rob Goldsworthy (ten). Allam then really put on the afterburners in the final ten overs as he single-handedly dragged Farnham towards what seemed to be a competitive total.

Defending 188, Farnham made a superb start with the ball. Australian import Jack Bastian, also making his league debut for the club, struck early to remove Kit Armstrong.

However, Kempton were lifted by an aggressive 68 from Pipe and a fluent 67 from overseas Deepak Gaikwad, whose second-wicket partnership swung momentum towards the home side.

Farnham, however, refused to let the game drift. O’Mahony removed Gaikwad at a crucial stage and the visitors’ bowlers tightened the screw impressively in the closing overs.

Despite the mounting pressure the earlier damage had been done, and Kempton made it home at 189 for three.

Farnham will need to learn from this lacklustre start and look to bounce back on Saturday when they are back on familiar territory at Farnham Park.