FINE bowling from all-time Berkshire League top wicket taker Roy Hayden, who took 5-33 to extend his career scalps to 942, and an excellent knock of 71 not out from Brett Everett saw Peppard Stoke Row 2nds (189-4) defeat Earley (185) with two balls to spare in Division One, writes Dave Wright.

Rob Casey smashed 55 off 50 balls for relegation-threatened Earley before Hayden got to work, while Josh Perkins also batted well for PSR, making 36, which included a six and five boundaries.

Table-topping Shinfield proved too strong for West Reading 2nds, easing home by five wickets.

They dismissed the home side for 183 (Emad Khan 37, Rafay Iqbal 36no, Waseem Ayub 33) and needed just 34 overs to pass that total, Amit Rawal making 48 not out and Anuraag Shukla 35 not out.

Fellow promotion-chasers Stratfield Turgis were gifted 35 points after bottom club Hawley scratched their fixture.

Third-in-the-table, Twyford & Ruscombe made light work of their game with Waltham St Lawrence, cruising home by nine wickets.

Electing to field first, they restricted their local rivals to 195-6, which included 63 from Wasim Javed and 56 by Lee Capeling, and then knocked them off in 38 overs with Raazaulhha Shaikh (68) and Robin Thompson (57) both remaining unbeaten after Sushil Chaudhari had been bowled for 51.

There was a winning draw for Woodley 2nds against Crowthorne & Crown Wood 2nds.

They were dismissed for 183 (Peter Clarke 3-18) before restricting their hosts to 133-7 after late resistance from Clarke (32no) and skipper Dan Finucane (25no).

In the Premier Division, a century from Amol Tyagi and a five-wicket haul from Tony Breakspear saw runaway leaders Checkendon take a step closer to the title by defeating third-placed Mortimer West End by 61 runs last Saturday.

Tyagi hammered an unbeaten 103 off just 70 balls with four sixes and 11 fours.

The No. 5 batsman dominated his side’s innings as only two others – Ujwal Tikoo (23) and skipper Vikas Chib (15) – managed to reach double figures as Checkendon were dismissed for 188 in the 33rd over with Nick Kingston taking 3-55 off 11 overs.

Mortimer skipper Kingston was also his side’s top scorer with 34 as they were shot out for 127 after their top order had been blasted out by Breakspear, who finished with 5-34 from 11 overs.

Aqib Zaheer, with 29 and Kingston lifted the total from 67-6 to 112 before the latter fell to Sushant Agarwal, who took 2-3 before Ninad Rahatekar (2-21) cleaned up the tail-end.

The only other Premier Division winners last weekend were Ibis Mapledurham, who got the better of Woodley by four wickets.

Woodley made 195-7 in their 45 overs with Naveed Asghar making an unbeaten 45, Mo Rizvi 32 and Shamil Nilamdeen 30.

Errol Masters was the best of the bowlers, taking 4-47 from 12 overs.

Ibis’ victory charge was led by opener Peter Weston with 56, while Richard Pilkington was five runs short of a half-century when they sealed victory after 44 overs, three of the wickets falling to Rizmy Nilamdeen at a personal cost of 40 runs.

Goring got the better of their draw at Farley Hill, making 252-8 and then having their opponents hanging on at 210-9.

Chris Winterbottom made 66 for Goring in an opening stand of 102 with Ollie Carrier (39).

Their side slumped to 128-5 before useful contributions from Nikhil Kulkarni, with 37 not out, Max McGee (31) and skipper Adam Ellis (24) left them with a useful total at the end of 45 overs, with Ali Jalil taking 4-47.

Farley Hill reached 71-2, but were unable to reach the run rate required despite a spirited knock of 65 off 49 balls from Akeesh Khokhar, 45 from captain Michael Sheridan and 41 by Ross Ditchburn.

Second-placed BCS secured a winning draw at Woodcote. They posted an impressive 282-5 in their 45 overs, with Adrees Afzal leading the way with 75, followed by Waqas Ahmed on 57 and Waqas Ashraf 51 not out.

Woodcote finished well short at 189-6, which included 53 from Jonny Clark.

The top-of-the-table clash in Division Two proved a real thriller, with Shinfield 2nds securing a winning draw at the expense of West Reading 3rds.

Leaders Shinfield were dismissed for 242 in the 44th over, with skipper Kiran Alluri making 81 and Anil Rebello 53, Bilal Ahmed taking 4-46.

Wests made a tremendous effort to reach their target, finishing with 238-3, of which Fahad Raja made an outstanding 140 from 141 balls with eight maximums and 10 fours.

Third-placed Warfield got the worst of a draw away to Peppard Stoke Row 3rds, making 195-5 in reply to their hosts’ 224-8.

The Lambert brothers, Dave and Mark, both made 39 for PSR, but the game’s highest scorer was Warfield opener John Curran with 54 off 83 balls.

The club’s long-serving groundsman, Dave Knapp, hit a brilliant 66 for Sulhamstead 3rds in a high-scoring draw with Knowl Hill.

Clearly liking the wicket he had prepared, the visitors made a huge 330-6 with Dennis Robertson scoring 76 not out, James Stoker 69, Anand Subramaniasamy 68 and Alex Francis 63.

The Watson Oval men could only manage 211-4 in reply despite an opening partnership of 113 between Knapp and Amar Arjuna (56), while Knapp and Babu Loganathan (68) added another 71 for the second wicket.

Purley on Thames 3rds suffered a six-wicket home defeat at the hands of Welford Park 2nds. They closed on 213-9 (Richard Leach 46, James Leach 40) with the visitors reaching their target off 42.5 overs, Suvo Datta making 52, Henderson Alleyne 41 and Pawan Sharma 37.

There was a high-scoring Division Three fixture at Sol Joel Park, where Falkland Development totalled 259-6 off 45 overs and then saw Binfield 3rds make 247-5 from 37.2 overs in reply before rain forced an early finish.

Falkland opener Ben Thomas struck 125 off 147 balls and Jared Ashworth 75 from 55, the pair putting on 146 for the second wicket.

There was also an impressive partnership in the Binfield innings, with Cameron Ireland (81) and Ian Snelling (64) taking the total from 38-2 to 181-3.

Mortimer defeated Crowthorne & Crown Wood 3rds by 102 runs, making 193 (Mike Storey 4-22) before skittling out their opponents for just 91( Ian Bliss 39, Craig North 38) with Jimmy George claiming 4-30 and Farooq Ajmal 3-26.

Andy Hobart blasted 130 and John Cumner 52 in Mortimer West End 2nds’ total of 279-6 and Shinfield 3rds were then rolled out for 191 (Angus Tiffin 46) with Rob Hodson taking 3-21 and Mark Wheeler 4-42.