Thames Valley Cricket League round-up: Wokingham's Staples duo too strong for defeated Sonning

The side skippered by Dan Anderson skittled out their visitors for a mere 69, which included two knocks of 18 from Jagz Beniwal and James Kennealy. David Healey took 3-26 and Alex Pearce 3-30 before Jake Staples cleaned up the tail with 3-1.

The Oaks were home and dry in less than 11 overs, Harry Staples making 46 from 32 balls thanks to 10 boundaries and James Stevens 22.

Second-placed Wargrave 2nds (146-1, Sravan Konidena 70, JJ Harris 58) also made short work of Thatcham Town 2nds, who had been shot out for 142 (Kieran Powell 44no) following some superb bowling from Martin Smith, who claimed 8-31.

Eversley 2nds lost only four wickets in passing Falkland 3rds’ 195-9.
Purley 2nds were dismissed for 132 (Tejpal Singh 36, James Measham 32) and lost to Aldershot 2nds by three wickets.

Bracknell, third in the table, had a good home win over Boyne Hill after Peter Henly had taken 5-75 off 20 overs to dismiss their visitors for 214. Sagir Nazir then made an excellent 89 and Ian Shaw 49 not out as they replied with 218-8 off 43 overs.

This Saturday sees Bracknell go to Sonning, Eversley host Wargrave, and Purley home to Wokingham.

Division One:

Division One leaders Cookham Dean lost to third-place Stoke Green by two wickets.

Cookham elected to bat but could only make 179 all out, largely thanks to Chris Marrow’s 74 and 35 from Christy Green, with Gagan Singh taking 3-21.

Stoke Green did not have it all their own way in their reply, but vital runs from Dan Simpson (36), Luqman Butt (39) and Karanpreet Singh (21) saw them home on 182-8 in the 39th over, despite the best efforts of Yasir Qureshi (4-30).

Cove are second in the table after a comfortable six-wicket win at bottom club Reading.

Reading were shot out for 132 in the 50th over, with Sukhi Kang (34no) and Ian Slatcher (20) top scoring and Tom Redhead (3-27) leading the Cove attack.

Their total was never going to be enough as the visitors eased to victory on 136-4 in the 33rd over led by Najeeb Malik (60no) and James Marsh (31).

Fourth-placed Gerrards Cross defeated North Maidenhead by six wickets.

Jonathan Denning’s superb 6-29 saw North Maids collapse to 114 all out in the 39th over, with Faizaan Shamsi (36no) and Majid Khan (35) showing some resistance. But Andrew Morrison finished unbeaten on 54 as Gerrards coasted to victory on 117-4 in the 32nd over.

Slough 2nds had the better of Falkland in a mid-table battle after winning by 62 runs.

Slough were bowled out for 150 in the 44th over with Uzair Majid (34) and Syed Shah (24) scoring some vital runs against some quality bowling from Bruce Martin (4-35).

But Slough’s total proved more than enough as Falkland were shot out for 88 in reply in the 38th over, Shah bagging 5-36 and Naveed Akhtar 4-34. Jim Ettridge (26), Khalid Zafar (10) and Craig Williams (11) were the only Falkland players to reach double figures.

Division Two:

Kidmore End’s hopes of closing the gap on the top two sides, Hayes and Marlow, in Division 2a suffered a blow when they were held to a draw by second-bottom Chesham.

Their attack came in for a hammering with the hosts racking up a formidable 302-7 (Todd Bamber 79; James Frost 3-63) and Kidmore were then fighting to save the game, which they did at 195-8, Alex Crawford making 46 and Tom Bodeker 32.

Kidmore End welcome Maidenhead & Bray to Gallowstree Common this Saturday.

Last weekend, M&B (208) suffered a 15-run defeat at the hands of Eversley, whose 223-8 was built around an excellent knock of 83 by James Magowan.

Wokingham 2nds are still seeking their first  Division 2b win of the season after 11 games. They were dismissed for 189 (Joe Drabble 50, Callum Creighton 40) with Beaconsfield 2nds reaching their target for the loss of two wickets, Dave Heavyside remaining 87 not out.

Charley Phillips looks for a breakthrough for Sonning 2nds against Wokingham 3rds.

Neal Robinson led Wargrave to a four-wicket win over Thatcham Town, taking 5-38 as the hosts were dismissed for 176 (Jamie Young 58) and then going on to contribute 36 in his side’s reply for 177-6. Also in good form with the bat were Imran Malik with 56 and Kirk Graham 46 not out.

Wargrave, who move up to fourth in the table, are home to bottom club Wokingham 2nds this Saturday.

Division Three:

In Division 3a, Purley-on-Thames stayed in hot pursuit of the two sides above them, High Wycombe 3rds and Fleet, with a comprehensive victory over struggling Harefield 2nds.

They skittled out their hosts for a miserly 37 with Andy Jackson taking 5-12 and Robbie Jeffrey 4-26. No Harefield batsman reached double figures, the main contribution coming from extras, 12 wides and a no-ball. Purley knocked off the required runs in 8.2 overs with George Wheeler scoring 18 and Patrick Allen 11.

Purley are away to Farnham Royal this weekend.

Devan Sharma hammered 128 off 160 balls with two maximums and 20 fours to set up a comfortable 60-run win for Sonning over Ruislip in Division 3b.

Gary Phillips (69) and Jason Pelnnisi (55no) were also among the runs in an impressive 52-over total of 284-6. Ross Bonnell took 5-45 and Jacob Fitton 3-47 as Ruislip fell well short at 224, which included 65 from Raheel Javed batting at seven.

The win lifts them to eighth in the table ahead of their visit to Gerrards Cross 2nds this Saturday.

Division Four:

Boyne Hill 2nds defeated Theale & Tilehurst by five wickets in Division 4a. The hosts made 209-7 with Rob Why contributing 69 and Michael Holder 68, only to see Boyne Hill pass that total in the 40th over with five wickets down, Dave Shaw leading the way with a blistering innings of 120.

Royal Ascot 2nds stay bottom after slumping to a four-wicket defeat at the hands of Reading 2nds.

Put in to bat, they closed on 184-7 and the visitors reached their target in the 46th over.

White Waltham move up to fourth in the table following their five-wicket success at the expense of Henley 3rds.

They dismissed their hosts for 172 (Johnny Connell 74) with Michael Chapman taking 4-22 and Rahul Mohindru 3-44 before going on to win largely due to the contributions of skipper Chris Metherall with 51, Nikoil Jathevedan 31 not out and Andy Elliott 30.

This coming weekend, Binfield entertain Boyne Hill, Theale & Tilehurst host Royal Ascot, White Waltham receive a visit from Bagshot, Sulhamstead make the short trip to Newbury, and Reading are away to Henley.

Division Six:

In Division 6b, Hurst 2nds declared after 50 overs on 182-8 (Ollie Lovegrove 64) but Cove 3rds needed only 38 overs to complete a five-wicket success, Nick Swannell staying unbeaten 53.

Needing 253 to win, Theale & Tilehurst 2nds made a brave attempt against Aldershot 3rds, but just fell short on 232-7.

Division Seven:

In Division 7a, Wokingham 4ths (228; Manas Mathapati 85) lost to Kidmore End 2nds (249-9) by 21 runs.

Sulhamstead & Ufton 2nds needed less than 13 overs to seal a nine-wicket win over Eversley 3rds, who were bowled out for 69, with Chris Blackford taking 3-13 and Matt Rosier 3-18. Al MacEwan guided Sulhamstead home with an unbeaten 41, all but five runs coming in boundaries.

Royal Ascot 3rds (153) suffered a five-wicket defeat at the hands of Fleet 2nds, while there was the same margin win for Yateley 2nds (218-5) against Newbury 2nds (216-9).

Division Eight:

In Division 8a, Bracknell 2nds made 252-5 to beat Boyne Hill 4ths by five wickets.

There was a three-wicket success for Bradfield 2nds (199-7) against Wargrave 3rds (196-8) and Royal Ascot 3rds made 256-5 before dismissing Datchet 4ths (118) by 138 runs.

Bottom club Sonning 3rds must have been pleased in reaching 285-4, yet it still wasn’t sufficient as Thatcham Town 3rds replied with 286-7.

Division Nine:

Division 9a table-toppers Finchampstead 5ths made 193-7 (Simon Eldridge 87) before edging home to a nine-run win over Kidmore End 3rds, whose total of 184 was largely due to Callum Driscoll’s 75 and Ankur Raina’s 64.

It was just as close for second-placed Wokingham 5ths, as they edged out Windsor 3rds by one wicket in making 183.