THAMES Valley League Division 3a leaders Sonning were made to battle before recording an impressive five-wicket win against Purley-on-Thames, writes Richard Ashton.

The hosts won the toss and chose to bowl, gaining two early breakthroughs as Adeel Chaudry (2-36) bowled Max Baker-Smith and then had James Denton caught be Rehan Akram.

Opener Pat Allen was joined by Robbie Jeffrey in adding 51 for the third wicket, the latter dismissed by Zahid Mohammed with the score on 89.

Ghulam Abbas trapped new man Richard Sandford lbw with no addition to the total, but Andrew Jackson (73no) joined Allen in adding 139 for the fifth wicket.

Allen made a magnificent 114 before he was removed by Mohammed, the bowler (3-49) also accounting for Dan Clark before the Potters declared their innings on 239-6 from 51 overs.

Peter Dean fell to Caleb Maycock for 20 in the hosts’ reply, but Shahid Khan (74) and Mohammed (45) then put their side into a good position with an excellent partnership.

Allen removed Khan but further good innings by Duncan Parr (35no), Alex Ray (25) and Tiernan Hick (26no) ensured Sonning got to their target with plenty of time to spare, despite the best efforts of Jackson (3-65).

The result leaves Sonning – who have won seven and drawn three of their 10 matches to date – 28 points clear of Aldershot at the top of the division. They visit Eversley 2nds this Saturday (1pm).

Meanwhile sixth-placed Purley host Falkland 2nds.

Relegation-threatened Sonning 2nds gained a dramatic and valuable eight-run victory in their Division 5b game at Maidenhead & Bray 2nds.

The second-bottom side were able to post a competitive 210 on the back of useful knocks from Paul Woodrow (48) and Hosnein Akram (31) and Dave Rintoul (27).

The Maids’ innings ebbed and flowed but ultimately proved unsuccessful, Mohammed Atif (3-61), Saad Raqeeb (2-47) and Akram (2-25) doing the damage as the hosts were bowled out for 202.

Solid batting throughout the Purley-on-Thames 2nds top order ensured they secured a draw at home to Aldershot 3rds in Division 6b.

Martin Harris made an excellent 101 not out as the visitors declared on 250-3 after 51 overs, but, led by James Measham (58) and with none of their top six making less than 27, the Potters managed to reach safety on 241-6.

In Division 8a, Sonning 3rds suffered a disappointing 82-run reverse at Datchet 4ths.

Waqas Tahir (3-47), Aamir Tahir (2-49), Ed Richardson (2-23) and Naqash Tahir (2-9) all bowled well for the visitors, but a sensational 65 from just 36 balls by Dipesh Patel fired Datchet to 210.

And aside from Naqash Tahir (49), the Sonning innings struggled until they were dismissed for 128.

  • HURST’S hopes of winning Division 2b took a major knock as they lost their-top-of-the-table clash at Henley 2nds by 59 runs – leaving them 69 points adrift of the leaders.

Andrew Ruddock (4-78), Phil Higgs (4-58) and Lewis Smith (2-30) took the wickets for the visitors, but useful contributions from Mikey Williams (42) and Chris Ellison (41) guided Henley to 187.

In reply, left-arm spinner Cameron Jacobsen (6-28) proved too good for Hurst, and with Nigel Dunstan (4-45) also in good form with the ball, the second-placed side were dismissed for 130.

Hurst host Wargrave on Saturday (1pm).

  • ABID Ul-Wahab smashed a sensational century for Kidmore End, but hosts Harefield 2nds were able to hang on for a gritty draw in their Thames Valley League Division 2a encounter.

Tom Burslem (31) and Joe Waldron (26) gave the visitors a fine start with an opening partnership of 70, but an extraordinary collapse then saw four wickets fall for just one run.

However, that was merely the precursor for Ul-Wahab to play an innings of devastating brutality, blasting his way to a stunning 144 from just 107 balls as he took the game well and truly away from the hosts.

With useful cameos from the lower order, Kidmore eventually ended their 52 overs on 291-8.

Ul-Wahab later bowled 13 overs for just 17 runs, but it was fellow opening bowler Dhilesh Vasan (2-39) who removed both the Harefield openers as they stumbled to 47-2.

James Rogers (3-26) kept the pressure on the Harefield batsmen, but they eventually staggered to safety on 103-7.

Kidmore End face a tough game against runaway leaders Finchampstead 2nds this Saturday (1pm).

In Division 7a, Kidmore End 2nds ground out a draw against a dominant Bracknell 2nds side.

Akmal Sultan (81), Shafiq Malik (67no) and Peter Henley (65) were all among the runs as Bracknell racked up an imposing 264-3 from their 47 overs.

Kidmore never looked like chasing that score down, but they showed impressive resolve – led by Will Patey (36) – to reach the saffety of 127-8 at the end of their innings. Paul Lawson made 67 for Kidmore End 3rds (156-7) as they hung on for a draw at Newbury 3rds (195-4) in Division 9a.

  • MICHAEL Holder starred with bat and ball as Theale & Tilehurst cruised to an eight-wicket victory at home to Farnham Royal in their Thames Valley League Division 4b clash.

The all-rounder led from the front with the ball as he claimed 5-72 from 15 overs.

Nigel Field top scored with 97 for the visitors, but with Ram Sankaran taking 3-43 for T&T, they were able to restrict their opponents to an under-par 215-9 in 52 overs.

James White and Arslan Ahmed were both dismissed to leave T&T 66-2 in reply, but Andrew Wigmore (104no) and Holder (50no) produced a superb unbeaten partnership of 150 to guide their side to victory in just 32.3 overs.

The victory leaves Theale & Tilehurst in eighth position in the table, but they have the breathing space of a 39-point gap to the relegation zone.

Theale & Tilehurst travel to North Maidenhead 2nds this coming Saturday (1pm).

Hurst 2nds won a Division 6b thriller by four runs at home to Theale & Tilehurst 2nds.

Jack Wrigley’s 69 led Hurst to 197-8, while Mo Jamil was the standout bowler as he took 5-57 for the visitors.

James Martin (46) and Sachin Rane (48) gave T&T a perfect platform, but they lost wickets throughout to crash to 193 all out, Tim Everitt (3-56) and Josh Harris (3-47) the pick of the attack.

In Division 7a, Theale & Tilehurst 3rds were edged out by two wickets in their home game against Maidenhead & Bray 3rds.

Ankar Sharma (55) and captain Stuart Brown (42) impressed with the bat as T&T scored a competitive 230 before being bowled out after 45 overs.

However, despite Tim Kasozimusoke’s (3-19), Maids reached 231-8 with Matt Allen (65) and Yusuf Qureshi (58) in fine nick with the bat as the visitors reached their target in the 45th over.

WARGRAVE pulled off an impressive run chase to defeat Thames Valley League Division 2b basement side Chiswick & Whitton by five wickets.

Clyde Scott (88) and Harpreet Bhatia (50) put the visitors in a strong position at 196-2, but a shocking collapse in the face of some fine left-arm spin bowling from Huw Thomas (7-80) saw them collapse to 234-9 in their 52 overs.

Opener Luke Taylor (60 from 64 balls) gave Wargrave a solid start, and with Arslan Yaseen (81no from 82), captain Neal Robinson (37) and Matt Townson (23no from 18 balls) timing the latter part of the run chase to perfection, the home side secured victory with 13 balls to spare.

Mid-table Wargrave travel to second-placed Hurst this Saturday (1pm).

Former 1st XI captain Madip Sohi blasted a sensational 143 not out to help Wargrave 2nds thrash Boyne Hill 3rds in Division 6b.

John Rimmer (3-46) and Scott Morton (3-50) were the chief threats with the ball for visitors Wargrave, combining to restrict Boyne to 185-8.

And that total never looked like being enough as Sohi got going in spectacular fashion.

In Division 9a, Wargrave 3rds endured a day to forget as they were hammered by nine wickets against high-flying Finchampstead 5ths.

Wargrave were shot out for 102, before Doug Scholes (84no) fired Finch home.