Broadwater beat Horsham – Worthing pipped by Pagham

Broadwater welcomed Les Ward and Akhona Mbanga back to the starting XI and upon winning the toss, Broadwater elected to bowl.

Jeremy Layne and Jaynil Patel took the new ball bowling with good discipline to the experienced top order of Horsham.

Openers Craig Gallagher and Shafeer Iqbal played with caution, with Gallagher the aggressor, pouncing on anything overpitched. The pair put on 50 for the first wicket before first change bowler Shane Felton was first to strike, removing Iqbal after inducing the outside edge, taken sharply by Gooding who was standing up to the stumps.

A couple of quick wickets followed including the dangerous Gallagher, brilliantly caught in the deep by Felton before Scott Stratton and Neil Rampersad steadied the ship, steering Horsham past 150. The pair departed in quick fashion, falling to spinner Graham Merritt-Blann and slow bowler Paul O'Sullivan.

In gloomy conditions this brought to the crease skipper Alex Ellis who supported a string of youngsters in an effort to extract every run out of a difficult surface.

Reluctant bowler O'Sullivan proved particularly difficult to put away. Young all rounder, Kobe Rampersad, provided the best resistance and showed his talent with some impressive strokes before being removed by the returning Layne for 14.

Broadwater wrapped up the Horsham innings with skipper Ellis the last to fall, again to Layne, for 25. Horsham finished on 207. Wickets were shared around with O'Sulivan taking 3-32 and Felton, Layne and Merritt'Blann bagging two each.

Broadwater openers Les Ward and skipper Chris Green made their way to the wicket under darkening skies. Ward fell early, falling lbw to a delivery which kept low off Neil Rampersad.

Green was joined by veteran all-rounder Benn Challen. The pair worked diligently to navigate tough conditions with Rampersad proving particularly challenging with his nagging left arm spin.

The pair batted sensibly while punishing any stray deliveries which were offered up by the inexperienced attack. The pair worked their way past 50 and had to keep a keen eye on the Duckworth Lewis scorecard.

Challen brought up first 50 of the league season and the pair ticked past the 100 partnership. Green was first to fall for a well-made 41, eventually bowled by opener Harvey Bartholomew who had returned for his second spell.

Challen was joined by Layne whose quick scoring helped ensure Broadwater stayed well ahead of the DLS par score. The pair took the total to 177 before the rain finally arrived.

Broadwater won by eight wickets with Challen finishing unbeaten on a impressive 79 from 109 deliveries and Layne on 33 from just 23.

In Division 2, Worthing suffered their first defeat of the season with a five-wicket loss away to Pagham.

After losing the toss and being put into bat, Worthing were guided by an excellent innings of 67 from Harry Merritt-Bland, whose composed knock held the innings together on a difficult surface.

Nick Ballamy contributed 33, but despite several batters making starts, regular wickets prevented the visitors from building sustained momentum, with Worthing eventually bowled out for 185 in the 45th over.

In response, Worthing started brightly with the ball and created opportunities during the opening spell, but Pagham gradually settled into the chase and built key partnerships at important moments.

Worthing continued to apply pressure with disciplined bowling and fielding spells throughout the innings, with Harry Dunn leading the way with figures of 2-28.

However, the hosts ultimately reached their target five wickets down in the 37th over. Despite the defeat, there were still positives for Worthing to take as they now look to bounce back in next weekend’s league fixture.

Chippingdale slumped to a 210-run loss at Steyning in Division 3 West – they were all out for 55 replying to the hosts’ 265-5, in which Daniel Allwright took 3-31.