READING'S hopes of climbing away from the bottom of the Thames Valley League Division One suffered a further blow when they lost by six wickets to Cove at Sonning Lane.

One of their main problems is they are simply not scoring enough runs, and this was again the case last Saturday, being dismissed for 132 and that included 23 extras.

Of those that came off the bat, Sukhi Kang top scored with 34 not out from 91 balls, while Ian Slatcher was the only other batter to offer any real resistance, making 20 off 36 balls.

When Cove batted, they lost two early wickets to Shahbaz Choudhry and Max Uttley, but from then on the result never looked in any real doubt. James Marsh made 31 and Najeeb Bashir Malik 60 not out as the visitors reached their target in the 33rd over, Uttley finishing with 3-40 off 13 overs.

Their eighth defeat in 12 games leaves Reading 30 points adrift of second-bottom Henley 2nds, with the two sides facing each other in a must-win game at Sonning Lane this Saturday.

Reading 2nds defeated Royal Ascot 2nds by four wickets to move up to sixth place in the Division 4a standings.

Phil Brennan (2-39), Amandeep Singh (2-37) and Dan Katuri (2-40) helped restrict the home side to 184-7 in their 52 overs, but the team’s hero was opening bat Michael Griesel, who made an unbeaten 68 in his side’s reply 185-6 from 45.2 overs. He was well supported by Brennan, who remained 38 not out in a match-winning seventh-wicket stand.

It was also a successful day for Reading 3rds in Division 6b, largely thanks to an outstanding spell of bowling by paceman Rob Cassie. He took 7-18 in 12 overs to roll over Finchampstead 4ths for 77, with only two batsman reaching double figures.

Reading cruised home in the 16th over with Vikramjit Sidhu making 39.

There was also success for Reading 4ths in Division 9a, bowling out Maidenhead & Bray 4ths for 192 with Arjan Srinivasan taking 4-48 and going on to win by six wickets. Skipper Alvin Waterman remained unbeaten on 57 with Will Mackay making 45 and Ajmal Safi 38.