Ton-up duo inspire the leaders

Two Leeds & Broomfield players completed centuries as the Division 1 leaders beat Ash. Monte McCague hit 105 and captain Max Aitken 100, while Dominic Smith made 65 in a big total of 334-6. They won by 156 runs after bowling out nine-man Ash for 178, Clarry McCague, Daniel Creasey and Edward Scrivens with two wickets each. In Division 2, Staplehurst were bowled out for 83 in an eight-wicket defeat by Saltwood. Tom Fuller’s 24 was as good as it got for Staplehurst while Connor Knapp took the two Saltwood wickets. Bearsted maintained pressure on Division 3 leaders Upchurch with their sevenwicket success against Pluckley. They held Pluckley to 162-9 thanks to three wickets each for Harry Slevin and Steven Benjamin. Second-placed Bearsted knocked off the runs in 34 overs thanks to captain Yannick Oakland (56), Piers Cottee-Jones (48) and Gareth Oakland (43). The skipper’s knock came off 78 balls and included 10 boundaries. Hunton Wanderers lost to Chestfield by 187 runs. The bowlers took some punishment as Chestfield reached 355-7, although Tom Line took 2-14 near the end of the innings. Line followed up with 54 while Jack Cook was unbeaten on 41 but Hunton, a man down, were 168 all out. Addington Village conceded to Aldington. Kings Hill fell 18 runs short against Eastchurch in Division 4. They were well in the game at tea after wickets for Andy Sage (3-20) and Simon Hutchinson (2-34) saw Eastchurch out for 166. Mohammed Cowdhury made 41 and Lucas Fawell 35 in reply but Kings Hill were all out for 148. Town Malling’s bowlers set up a nine-wicket win against Norton Sports. Only one Norton player reached double figures in their 81, with James Worrall (3-23) and Jermaine Freeman (2-9) among the wickets. Worrall then made an unbeaten 46 as Malling won inside 15 overs. In Division 5, Harrietsham were bowled out for 145 in a six-wicket defeat by Rainham. Akhil Balagopal made 41 for Harrietsham while Nathan Jones and Saffer Ahmed shared the four Rainham wickets. Holborough Anchorians lost to Bilsington by 66 runs. Sohail Akhtar (3-12) and Gareth Cornhill (3-11) bowled well, with Bilsington 181 all out. But Holborough slipped to 24-6 in reply and while Cornhill (44) dug in, they were all out for 115. Loose are up to fifth place in Division 6 – their highest position in years – after a three-wicket win against Horton Kirby. Skipper Robert Wood (4-27) was the leading bowler as Horton closed on 152-9. Jordan Chambers made a patient 55 from 103 balls in reply, while 34 off 15 from Giles Davey, including six fours and a six, was also vital.