Alex at the heart of the action

Alex Lush starred with the bat and ball for Division 7 leaders Bearsted 2nds on Saturday.

Lush (62) and Simon Barker ( 69) helped Bearsted post 209-7 in their 40 overs away to Cudham Wyse 3rds.

And with Lush then returning figures of 4- 25, Bearsted dismissed their hosts for 135 to win by 74 runs.

Elsewhere in the division, Marden 2nds edged an entertaining clash against t h e ir We st Fa r l e i g h counterparts.

Marden batted first and scored 264-9 thanks largely to James Dodge (63), Paul Sunnucks (52) and Rupert Humphrey (43).

Trevor Goldhagen took 5- 44 and then hit 61 for West Farleigh, with Vinoth Amirthakumar scoring 59, but the home side came up short at 251 all out.

An unbeaten century from James Piper helped Linton Park win at Four Elms by six wickets in Division 1.

Piper hit 15 boundaries on his way to 100 not out as Linton chased down 170 with more than four overs to spare.

Earlier, Stuart Cheesman (4-28) and Josh Knowler (4-32) had starred with the ball for the visitors.

Third-placed West Farleigh proved far too strong for Sissinghurst 2nds in Division 3.

Tom Osbourne (100 not out) and Jack Prideaux (71) helped Farleigh reach 280-8 before they kept Sissinghurst to 181-5.

Ollie Rhys-Jones was the star for Marden in their 136run thrashing of Farningham.

He hit 97 in a total of 240-6 and then picked up 4-20 as Farningham collapsed to 104 all out.

Bearsted are second in Division 2 after they held on to win a tight match at home to Locksbottom.

Piers Cottee- Jones ( 50) helped Bearsted to 154-4 and the visitors came up just two runs short in reply.

Andrew Dampier (4-34) and J French (3-34) led the way for Bearsted as they dismissed Locksbottom for 152.

Linton Park 2nds suffered a sixth straight defeat in Division 5, the latest one by 10 wickets at home to Fordcombe.

They were out for 151 and Fordcombe’s openers knocked off the runs in 30.2 overs.