Newbury Singh from the same hymn sheet as Jagjit takes five wickets in win over Cove

Jagjit Singh finished with sensational figures of 5-8 as Newbury beat Cove 2nd by 24 runs to move to the top of the Thames Valley Cricket League Division 4a table.

Skipper Kevin Mills won the toss and opted to bat but Newbury made a shaky start, losing opener Charlie Anstey for 5.

However Suryaprakash Sastry scored a better-than run-a-ball 30 before Rohit Sengupta and Jagjit Singh added 84 for the third wicket.

Singh was then dismissed for a watchful 26 while Sengupta passed 50 before he was bowled for 63 in an innings that included 10 boundaries.

Shailesh Shawant supplied some stability in the middle order and finished unbeaten on 30 while some hard hitting from Jimmy Herdman (14 not-out) helped the hosts to a competitive 207/7 from their 45 overs.

Fresh from his exploits with the bat, Herdman removed both openers for a combined score of 12 while a wicket apiece for spinners Charlie Anstey and Kevin Mills exposed a vulnerable middle order to Singh's magic.

Singh took five wickets in succession as Cove collapsed from 134/5 to 183 all-out, 24 runs short.

Elsewhere, Sulhamstead and Ufton crashed to a 135-run defeat to Burnham in Division 2b.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl, Matthew Gil took two wickets but three Burnham batters reached half centuries as the visitors posted an above-par 298/6 from their 50 overs.

In response, opener Phil Walden scored a watchful 43 but two of the next three batters were out for ducks while the middle order and tail enders didn't fare much better as, despite some late resistance from the plucky Karanvir Panesar (28), Sulhamstead made just 163 and were well-beaten.

Meanwhile, Theale and Tilehurst were left to rue a dramatic middle order collapse as they slipped to a three wicket defeat against Division 3a leaders Kidmore End.

Having won the toss and decided to have a bat, opener Jacob Stoner produced a memorable albeit fleeting innings as he smashed 38 from 27 balls.

Theale then lost two wickets in quick succession but Rehan Hassan, adopting an altogether more measured approach to Stoner, looked to shore things up for the visitors, adding 45 for the fourth wicket along with Rob Why.

However when Why was out for 26 with the score 97/4, Hassan found himself greeting more partners than a speed dating event.

By the time Hassan was out for a determined 43, Theale had slipped to 119/7 and were soon all-out for 138 - with the exception of Why, none of Theale's final eight batters scored more than 7.

Kidmore End then eased to 59 without loss and it looked like the game was set to reach a rather undramatic conclusion.

Theale's bowlers had other ideas and when Jaden Viljoen claimed the first wicket of the Kidmore innings, the floodgates, at least temporarily, opened as three quick wickets from Thomas Wellings saw the hosts slip to 64/4.

Kidmore added 51 for the fifth wicket but James Bozarth kept them honest, picking up three scalps in the middle order before the home side rather limped over the line with three wickets in hand.

In Division 4a, Purley-on-Thames recovered from a bad start with the bat to beat Reading 2nd by six wickets.

Three Reading batters passed 40 but a stellar spell of bowling from Patrick Allen (3-25) limited the visitors to 207-6 from their 45 overs.

In response, Purley lost opener James Denton for a duck and slumped to 73/4 and looked to be staring down the barrel of defeat.

James Leach had other ideas however and teamed up with Robert Clarke (36 not-out) to produce a match-winning 138-run partnership.

Leach came so close to a century but had to be content with an unbeaten 98 as Purley cruised to a second win of the season.