Bognor beat Chichester to inch towards promotion - Middleton move on up

Chichester PP v Bognor

Sussex division two

Bognor took a step closer to promotion with a nervy victory over a dogged Chichester side at Goodwood.

Having elected to bowl in a game reduced to 40 overs, Bognor were off the pace to begin with, allowing Tarryck Gabriel (54) to lead a rapid start.

A further rain delay gave Bognor time to regroup, and on the restart a fired-up Taylor Jaycocks (2-30) bowled with pace to see off Gabriel and Owen Spicer.

Joe Ashmore provided excellent foil, his 1-18 in eight overs proving pivotal in dragging Bognor back into it.

Bognor needed to continue to create chances and Graham Bush’s second spell did that, his 3-38 providing some excellent momentum.

With Mike Harris taking two wickets in the last four balls of the innings, Bognor secured maximum bowling points. Martin Ford’s 37 was excellent in the conditions, and Chichester’s 180 all out marginally above-par.

A superb opening spell from Ford and Matt Geffen saw Nick Ballamy and Harris edge behind before Gary Maskell was bowled to leave Bognor 43-3. However, Ryan Maskell steadied the ship alongside Ashmore, then both became increasingly expansive against the spin of Gabriel and Ajit Sambhi. Maskell scored his fifth 50 of the year but when he departed for 55 to Gabriel the match swung back towards Chichester.

Ashmore showed his class by timing his late assault on the bowling perfectly, and alongside Josh Seward, he saw Bognor home by four wickets with 63 not out.

Eight points from the final two games will see Bognor promoted, while Chichester have all but secured their safety and will continue to challenge for a top-half finish.

Middleton v Cuckfield

Sussex premier

Middleton took maximum points – and are now eyeing a top-half finish.

Middleton won the toss and elected to bat but lost both openers lbw in the first eight overs and at 34-3 they needed a partnership.

Mahesh Rawat and George Briance set about batting patiently against the accurate bowling of Nick Patterson and Josh Hayward and when Briance was out for 32 the middle order came in and supported Rawat.

A knock of 22 off 14 balls from Charlie Maginnis and 100 not out from Rawat took Middleton to 224 from their reduced number of 40 overs.

In the reply Tom Davies and Matt Lee bowled well and Lee picked up three wickets.

Briance and Rawat bowled accurately and Briance ttook the crucial wicket of in-form Ollie Graham for 0. With Cuckfield 49-5 Middleton were in control, but a partnership of 46 gave Cuckfield some hope. Rawat (2-11) continued to squeeze from one end while Heather took three wickets for 14.

Middleton dismissed Cuckfield for 111 from 26.5 overs and took maximum points to go sixth.

They will be in the top half of the table if they can get another win against Eastbourne this week.

Aldwick v Rustington

Division 6 West

Facing table-toppers Rustington, Aldwick should have given it their best – but put in one of their worst performances of the season with a dismal batting display.They made only a paltry 58 all out and lost by seven wickets.

Things looked promising for Aldwick at 33-0 with Alex Cooper and Josh Mann looking comfortable but Cooper fell for nine, the first of Finlay Gardner’s three wickets, which opened the door for the carnage. The next nine wickets fell for 25 with only opener Mann (15) making double figures. Garner’s main allies in the rout were Glen Lovegrove with 4-28 and Ben West with 2-9.

Aldwick did take two wickets before the inevitable defeat thanks to Ollie Smith (2-30) who removed openers West (22) and Benjamin Gardner (11) but Rustington cruised to victory thanks to Paddy Chapman (14*) and Richard Hobbs (10*).

This week, Aldwick must pick themselves up against Crawley twos.

Bognor 2nd v Goring 2nd

Bognor twos secured promotion and maintained their unbeaten run by hammering Goring at the Regis Oval. Harry Hood struck 93 in Bognor’s 245-9, before Josh Broad took 5-26 as Bognor won by 81 runs.

n Bognor threes were bowled out for 114 in pursuit of Climping’s 154-9.

Westbourne v Ashling

The final T20 match of the season saw Westbourne total 169/4 thanks to a fine knock by Warren Turner (68), Steve Harvey taking 2/19.

Apartnership of 81 between Cameron Franks (67) and Tim Gordon (19) put the winning target in sight but Ashling finished 15 short.

Ashling v Slindon

A nail-biting game at Down Street ended in a tie.

Slindon reached 144/8 with Dan Jadzevics (42) top scoring and debutant for Ashling Simon Quadri taking (4/29).

Knocks by captain Vinod Kumbhar (47) aided by Ed Platt (33) saw them near to the finishing line but a run-out off the last ball meant the game ended with the scores level.

Stuart Apps (3/22) and Alex Fuente (3/24)were the pick of the hosts’ bowlers.