Middleton suffer first defeat... day is perfect for Pagham

Here are the reports - and don’t forget to get the Observer every Thursday for all the local cricket action.

East Grinstead v Middleton

Sussex Premier League

Middleton slipped to their first defeat of 2017 at East Grinstead.

The wet conditions towards the end of the week meant the feeling was there was likely to be something in the wicket early in the afternoon for the bowlers.

Middleton skipper Sean Heather won the toss and invited East Grinstead to bat first.

The score progressed to 31 before Tom Davies dismissed opener Derham to a sharp catch by Heather fielding at first slip for just 11. An Important partnership of 89 between skipper Atkin (45) and Hudson-Prentice saw Grinstead reach 120 before the fall of their second wicket.

The game then swung towards Middleton with the next six wickets falling for just 53 runs. Hudson-Prentice was one of Heather’s victims, trapped lbw for 65. Heather, with 3-26 from his ten overs, had the best return among the Middleton bowlers.

An important eighth-wicket partnership of 49 saw EG reach 222-8.

In reply Middleton soon found themselves on the back foot with Will Burrows second out , lbw to Lewis Hatchett with the score on just 14.

Middleton continued to lose regular wickets with none of their batters, with the exception of Heather, really able to capitalise on starts made.

Nick Smith (19) was looking comfortable until he guided a catch down the leg side when opener Ian Sturmer returned to the attack. All the time Heather remained the chance of a Middleton victory was there, but when he was seventh out for 71 with the score on 149, the game looked out of reach.

Middleton were finally all out for 186, with Sturmer (4-29) being the pick of the Grinstead bowlers.

Pagham v Bexhill

Division three

Pagham won the toss and batted first on a superb-looking wicket and soon got to 50 before Staurt Rutter played a loose shot and was caught for 24.

They saw numerous moderate partnerships but could never get entirely on top of the bowling. Aidan Zammit starred with the bat scoring a well-crafted 82 from 89 balls.

No other batsman got out of the 20s and with Liam Bryant picking up six for 46 with his part-time spinners Pagham eventually finished on 240 for 9 after their 45 overs.

In reply Bexhill lost two quick wickets for 22 but a partnership of 80 between Tomas Niash (39) and James Walker (33) looked to have brought the visitors back into the game.

But two more quick wickets including a superb run-out from Aide Zammit left Bexhill 107-4. They never really recovered and struggled to 160 all out.

The pick of the bowlers were Joe De La Fuente (3-13) and Ollie Pearce (3-40) with Pagham winning by 80 runs and picking up 30 points.

Bognor Regis 2nds v Slinfold 2nds

Division six west

On a fine afternoon at the Regis Oval, the visitors won the toss and batted on a fine strip aided by a touch of rain.

With Slinfold 62 for two the advantage was with the guests but the canny Geordie Andrew Greig and Jim Lee seized the initiative, Greig taking two for 12 and Lee two for 25 to leave Slinfold on 98-6.

Slinfold skipper Steve Young took the visitors to 187 for 8 off of their allotted overs.

Bognor’s reply was steady but at 70-3, the challenge was on to get a result. This didn’t matter to the lively pairing of gloveman Joel Baker, who cracked a fine 69 off of 51 balls and allrounder Tom Woolnough with his maiden senior 50 for Bognor saw the hosts home by seven wickets.

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