Findon CC and Southwick CC wilt in the heat

West Chilts v Findon - Sussex League Division 2

It was a tight finish at West Chiltington and Thakeham CC but the hosts got home by two wickets after bowling out Findon for 171 in division two of the Sussex League.

No-one scored big for Findon but 26 from Alex Stephens and 20 by Harrison Grayston helped them to 171 all out as Ben Lucking punished them, taking 6-56.

Findon at West Chiltington -the match in pictures.

The reply was not a straightforward one - and after 47 apiece from openers Morne Louw and Louis Storey they lost wickets regularly but got home with a couple to spare. David Everett took 4-23 for Findon, who remain bottom of the table.

Findon skipper Brad Bridson said: “It’s been tough this season, we always knew it would be.

"There’s a lot of quality players and a lot of geniune paid overseas pros who definitely weren’t about the league when we were last playing at this standard.

"But we’ve competed in most games and should have won probably at least two more which is frustrating.

"We were close again on Saturday, but probably eight down flattered us a bit.

"A few more runs on the board, and a little more luck early on in their reply and it could have been a different result. We’ll keep going … it’s a young squad with 90-95% of the players homegrown from the juniors, a great testament to the club.”

Southwick v Preston Nomads 3rd- Division 7 Central

Despite losing the toss and two wickets in two overs, the Wickers managed to set Nomads a challenging total thanks to a sterling effort from their middle order batsmen.

Adam Walter led the way with a magnificent 69 not out, despite suffering in the sweltering temperatures. Vital partnerships with Craig Dawson (23), Jack Moore (29) and Dean Ghasemi (30) saw Southwick to a creditable 198-5 off 40 overs.

Pick of the Nomads bowlers were Faisal Khan (1-26) and Malorie Short (2-37).

Bowlers Paul Grennan and debutant Harry Sutton tied Nomads down with Grennan bowling Michael English for a duck in his first over.

But when bowling changes came and with fast bowler Christian Lloyd injured, the home side struggled to stem the tide of Nomads runs, and half centuries from Luke Appleton (56) and Ed Salkfield (54) saw Nomads home for the loss of four wickets with two overs to spare.

“The oppo chased very well, in hindsight we were probably 40 runs short of a par score” said disappointed captain Harry Dorgan.

Portslade 4th v Southwick 2nd

Southwick were delighted to bowl Portslade out for 106, Tom Wilson taking the first three wickets ably supported by three from 15-year-old Harry Cracknell, two for Ali Jenkins and one for youngster Ewan ‘Chewy’ Gendre.

A flurry of quick wickets brought a rapid collapse as Southwick fell to a miserable 75 all out.