SUSSEX CRICKET LEAGUE ROUND-UP: Nomads omprove place at top after convinving Horsham win

Cuckfield lie second following their win at East Grinstead, it was their third win of the campaign and a first defeat of the season for the home side. Chichester, at Hastings, won for the second week in a row to move into third place.

Preston Nomads decided to insert Horsham after winning the toss at Fulking and the move paid off as the visitors were dismissed for just 83 in 37.3 overs as Kashif Ibrahim took 4 for 18 in 13 overs and Carl Simon grabbed 4 for 36 as he polished off the tail. Top scorer for Horsham was Kam Leverock with 24 while opener Ben Shoare made 22. Nomads then took maximum points as they reached 85 for 3 from just 14.1 overs with 43 from opener Angus Stewart.

Cuckfield batted on winning the toss at East Grinstead and were bowled out for 165 of which Jason Oates hit 34 and James Thorpe 25. Lewes Hatchett took 3 for 18 and Ian Sturmer 4 for 39. Sturmer, with 24 not out, was top scorer in a losing total of just 97 made by Grinstead as Nick Patterson took 4 for 60 and Kurtis Browning 3 for 27.

Chichester earned their second win in successive with a three wicket triumph at Hastings who they dismissed for 222. Skipper George Campbell was top scorer, he made 44, Harry Finch hit 37 and Elliot Hooper 35 as James Stedman took 5 for 45.

In reply Mark Bamford and Chris Kirkham enjoyed a first wicket stand of 125 to set Chichester on the way to their win. Bamford made 123 and Kirham 54 as Mick Glazier, for Hastings, took 4 for 37. The visitors took the win at 226 for 7 with just three balls to spare.

Brighton and Hove enjoyed their second win of the season and owed much to the Sussex pair of Chris Liddle and Michael Rippon for their massive total of 307 for 6 declared. Liddle included five sixes in his 125 while Rippon cracked 73 and Danny Alderman took 3 for 44. Bridges then tumbled to 114 all out as Brighton skipper Matt Wood took 6 for 46, top scorer for Bridges was youngster Brad Gayler who made 37. Michael Rippon waded in with 3 for 28.

Roffey moved off the bottom of the table with a dramatic last ball victory against Worthing. The visitors reached 228 all out with 63 from Michael Gould and 46 from Matt Green as Rohit Jagota took 7 for 58 in 21 overs. Roffey won off the last ball at 229 for 8 with Dan Smith making 50 not out and hit a six and a two off the last two balls from Matt Machan to clinch the points. Luke Vinter and Machan took two wickets each.

DIVISION TWO

Eastbourne narrowly failed to make it five wins in a row with visitors Crowhurst Park having 9 wickets down at the Saffrons but Eastbourne still top the table by 9 points ahead of Goring.

Batting first Eastbourne rattled up 276 for 4 with 101 from Toby Finzel, 54 not out from Alex Pollard and 54 from Mark Tomsett, Paul Brookes taking 2 for 18. At stumps Crowhurst Park has reached 194 for 9 with Kellon Powell and Paul Lindfield each making 45. For the home side there were three wickets each for David Twine and Matt Cooke.

Bexhill were beaten for the first time this season as Ifield leapfrogged them in the chase behind Eastbourne. Raza Ali cracked 119 and Paul Clifford made 60 to take Ifield to 236 for 5 declared after being put in, Aussie Andrew Williams took 3 for 55. In reply Bexhill tumbled to 142 all out despite 32 from skipper Malcolm Johnson. For the home side Russell Jacob took 4 for 50.

Goring moved into second place with their fourth win in five starts by a four wicket margin at Glynde. The home side were dismissed for 177 with Ollie Bailey making top score of 40, Ellis Woolley and Matt Keen each took two wickets. Barnaby Lyons then made 48 in a winning total of 180 for 6 by the visitors.

Middleton won their first game of the year in a low scoring match at Findon where the home side crashed to 51 all out as Tommy Davies took 4 for 14 and Brandon Hanley 4 for 17. Middleton then reached 52 for 4 as Graham Manser grabbed 2 for 26 in a losing cause.

St James’s enjoyed their second win of the season by a 44 run margin at home to lowly Pulborough. The home side made 211 for 7 declared with Michael Murray (47) and Sam Chettlebrough (69) adding 124 for the first wicket, Henry Sims made 54 not out and for Pulborough skipper Lee Callaghan took 5 for 65.

In reply the visitors were dismissed for 157 of which Imran Khan hit 60 and Jonathan Bennett 33, there were three wickets each for Anthony Alexander and Mike Edmonds.

DIVISION THREE

East

The top two sides in Division 3 East met at Ansty where the visitors from Lindfield triumphed by 38 runs. This maintained their unbeaten record and took them to the top of Division 3 East. An unbeaten 7th wicket partnership of 61 carried them to 176-6 with Vince Lawson making 44 not out. Glen Anson was amongst the wickets for Ansty once more with 3-77 but Stephen Pearce’s 5-17 helped leave Ansty short on 138. Ansty drop to third.

Burgess Hill take over in 2nd place after a 46 run win over Rottingdean. Their 166-9 was also indebted to a lower order revival with an unbeaten 10th wicket partnership of 42. George Ledden took 6-23 for Rottingdean but Ian and Jack Simpson bagged 5-24 and 4-27 respectively as Rottingdean were bowled out for 120.

Crawley’s season is gathering momentum after a slow start and, like last week, they won at home batting second. 57 from Ben Francis and 54 from Callum Smith meant that visitors Haywards Heath posted182-7. Crawley won with 5 wickets to spare with Harry Chaudhary leading the way, hitting 92.

Keymer & Hassocks beat Lewes Priory by 7 wickets to leave the visitors well adrift at the bottom of the table. Lewes elected to bat first but their 149 was never enough despite 69 from Richard Eborn. Mike Poole undermining their innings with 7-44.

West

Billingshurst took over at the top of Division 3 West as visitors Crawley Eagles were thrashed by 167 runs. Scott Stratton 111 not out and Dhanushka Mitipolaarachichi 67 gave the home side an imposing total of 245-6 before 4 wickets apiece from Mitipolaarachichi and Kelly Russell saw the Eagles blown away for just 88.

Pagham surrendered both their 100% record and top spot as they were forced to hang on for a draw at near neighbours Bognor Regis. Regis finally discovered some of last year’s form and made a challenging score of 243. Sam Taylor 93 and Charlie Laforet were the chief contributors while Nabid Rehman responded with 5-49. Pagham closed on 149-8 with Chris Hayden hitting 59.

Stirlands won their fourth game in a row as Slinfold’s 196-8 was passed with no wickets lost and still the best part of 11 overs remaining. Once again Sean Heather was amongst the runs and his 104 along with 73 from Stuart Hanks completed the rout. Guy Thorne earlier made 68 for Slinfold, while Struan Cameron 4-57 and Nick Hunt 3-38 were the chief wicket takers.