Hornby impresses but Sulhamstead edged out

Sulhamstead and Ufton succumbed to a narrow three wicket defeat at the hands of Wokingham 2nd in Division 2b.

Sulhamstead’s Stuart Hornby made an unbeaten 78 and Karanvir Panesar added 27 as the hosts posted 223/8 from their 50 overs.

Panesar (3-42) then starred with the ball but league leaders Wokingham reached 224/7 with eight overs to spare.

Theale and Tilehurst were on the wrong end of an agonising one wicket defeat against Bagshot.

Theale had an unbeaten 123 from Rehan Hassan to thank as they reached 279/4 in the first innings.

Having lost the toss, Theale had slipped to 47/2 before Hassan arrived at the crease and combined with in-form Micheal Holder (90) for a 153-run fourth wicket partnership.

Chasing side Bagshot then slumped from 104/2 to 139/5 but eventually snuck over the line with a single wicket and two balls to spare.

There were wickets for Theale’s Robbie Jeffrey (4-34) and Sardar Daud (2-36) but the duo proved unable to prevent a narrow defeat for the visitors.

There was better news for Purley-on-Thames, who were comfortable six wicket winners over Finchampstead 3rd.

Finchampstead won the toss and reached 206/5 in the first innings.

In response, Purley opener Andrew Jackson scored a magnificent 103 not-out as his side eased to 207/4 with 14 overs remaining.

Newbury remain at the summit of the Division 5b table after they beat second placed side Reading 2nd in a low scoring game by four wickets.

Reading were made to regret their decision to bat at the toss as they were bowled out for a measly 144 with two balls remaining in their innings.

The wickets were shared amongst Newbury’s Charlie Anstey (3-22), Jimmy Herdman (2-32), Tom Kingston (2-44), Prashanth Kundar (1-14) and Kevin Mills (1-26).

Newbury then ticked off Reading’s total in 35.4 overs, securing a four wicket win despite losing three batters for ducks and another two for single figure scores.

More than half Newbury’s runs were scored by opener Simon Digweed (81) while Rohit Sengupta added a crucial 28.