SOUTH East Reading all but condemned Stoke Row to relegation from the Berkshire Cricket League Premier Division as Atif Asif fired his side to a thrilling 13-run win on a dreary day.

Stoke made a dream start after asking South East to bat, with South Africans Matt Hopper and Dion Sampson reducing the visitors to 14-3 after 11 overs.

Asif (33) and Jibraan Naame (43) rebuilt the SER innings before the former was trapped lbw by Sam Boughton, who then removed Umer Akram in the same fashion.

The Falcons turned the screw with 15-year-old spinner Chris Humphreys

(2-36) showing class beyond his years as he dismissed Naame and Mohsin Asif to leave Reading 95-7.

A productive counter-attack from Atiq Javed (27) and Raja Rafaqat (32) helped South to a respectable total, before the returning Hopper (3-25) and Sampson

(3-42) ensured the visitors were 162 all out.

Stoke's reply began in disastrous fashion with Hopper bowled by Raja from the first ball of the innings.

JC Arnold struck a brace of boundaries before he became Asif's first victim, and when the bowler removed Boughton and Will Bishop Stoke Row were 53-4.

Rich Ashton (33) again made a start without converting as he nicked off to give Asif a fourth victim.

The introduction of Umer Akram (3-34) heralded another collapse as Stoke slipped to 91-8.

However, Mikey Hennessy (22) and Sampson (32) - struck in the chin from the first ball he faced - threatened an almighty surprise as they added 45 for the ninth wicket.

The pair were finally separated when Hennessy was bowled by Javed, before Sampson's heroic rearguard was ended by Naame as Row were dismissed

for 149.

Will Macdonald was the only bright spark for Woodcote after rain stopped play in their losing draw with Sulhamstead.

Macdonald carried the Woodcote innings with an unbeaten 77 out of a paltry total of 98 runs.

Ian Williams was the chief beneficiary for Sulhamstead with 4-36.

In the second innings it was the turn of the visitors to struggle as the light faded still further.

Sulhamstead's batsmen battled on through but by the 24th over, after a couple of stoppages, the light had deteriorated to the point where the match was abandoned with Sully 88-6.

The draw is a further blow to Woodcote's title chances but next week's match between West Reading and Sulhamstead could be pivotal. Depending on the outcome, the final game of the season, Woodcote versus West Reading, could decide the destination of the trophy.

Mortimer West End tightened proceedings at the top by beating West Reading by eight wickets.

Bob Hodson (5-45) took five wickets as Reading were bowled out for 121.

Unbeaten half centuries from Jamie Stead (56*) and Alex Mackenzie (50*) saw Mortimer over the line at 124-2.

Bad light stopped play between Peppard and Woodley with Peppard on the losing end of a draw.

Woodley openers Zahid Abassi (43) and Hamza Akram (15) added 62 in 10 lively overs but both were out in successive overs from Mo Khan (2-39).

Other than an even-time 41 by Suneet Basra and two late flourishes from Faisal Ahmed ( 22) and captain Amjad Ali (29*), others perished cheaply, but Woodley reached a challenging 211 when all out in the 42nd over.

Peppard's reply began disastrously with Mick Chard Jnr and Ronnie Brock dismissed with only seven scored.

Pradeep Kumar added a useful 15 but captain Senthil Muniasamy (69) and Tim Vines (48*) added 102, the bulk of the runs.

With visibility becoming very difficult for both fielders and batsmen, the umpires were forced to abandon the match at 149-6 with 14 overs remaining.

Grosvenor's match with Checkendon was also abandoned due to rain.

In a high-scoring innings, Grosvenor posted 255-5 thanks to Noman

Kayani (70), Mohammed Jamil (66) and Jasmeet Singh (45*).

But the match was halted in the 12th over of Checkendon's innings at 33-3.

Division One

SANDHURST moved a step closer to the Division One title with a 149-run win over Bradfield.

Anthony Clapham produced the star performance with bat and ball as the Camels moved a step closer to the title.

Adam Birch (26) and Andy Tutty (16) got Sandhurst off to a solid start, but it was top scorer Clapham who added the backbone to the innings with 77 runs.

Aron Shallom added 20 but it was left to tail enders Naz Rajlawat (38) and Ross Fagan (38*) to push the score up to a respectable 226-9.

An inspired six-over bowling spell by Clapham saw him take four wickets for just three runs as Bradfield slumped to 77 all out.

Title contenders Welford Park slipped to a five-wicket defeat to Ruislip Victoria.

Welford made 193-9 in their allotted overs but a century from Yakub Vora (107) proved vital for Ruislip as they reached the target with five wickets to spare.

An unbeaten innings of 94 by Ollie Carrier saw Goring beat Crown Wood by seven wickets.

Crown Wood set a target of 181, largely thanks to Suraj Puttige (70) and Azharudeen Mahroof (62).

But they were unable to halt Goring's run chase after excellent knocks by Carrier and Owen Tong-Jones (49).

Elsewhere, Waltham St Lawrence suffered a losing draw against Ibis Mapledurham while Stratfield Turgis beat Farley Hill by seven wickets.

Ross Ditchburn (78) helped Farley Hill post 178-7, with five of the wickets taken by Stratfield's Steven Brown (5-44). In reply, Stratfield finished 182-3 with notable contributions from Steve Clarke (81*) and Daniel Spence (78).

Division Two

CROWTHORNE clinched the Division Two title with a comfortable

seven-wicket win over Peppard 2nds at Wellington College.

Riaan Ackerman (107*) and Gary Legg (56*) scored the bulk of the runs as Crowthorne reached 195-1 from 45 overs.

The total proved to be a cakewalk for the Crows thanks largely to half centuries from Anthony Cluett (83*) and Muhammad Shakeel Arshad (73).

A number of teams could still finish as runners-up, including Emmbrook & Bearwood, who earned a winning draw against Sonning 3rds.

Sanjay Jain struck a superb 118 not out to lead Emmbrook to 263-3, but Sonning held on at 202-9 in reply, with Anil Rebello (47) top scoring.

Second-placed West Reading 2nds suffered a blow to their title hopes as they lost by 58 runs to Mortimer West End 2nds.

Adam Bosley top scored with 53 as Mortimer were bowled out for 125, with Saif Khan (4-35) the pick of the bowlers.

But Andy Trott helped Mortimer defend the low total with figures of 6-16 as Reading were bowled out for just 67.