Hill produce best in Ickenham win.
Thames Valley Cricket League round-up: Mellor's side put a spanner in the works of rivals’ promotion hopes with 137-run win
Boyne Hill produced one of their best displays of the season to drag themselves back into contention at the top end of Thames Valley Division 1 while putting in a spanner in the works of Ickenham’s hopes of promotion.
Hill’s sixth win of the season came off the back of an exceptional batting display, which saw the visitors declare on 302-6 off 49 overs, with Hamid Riaz finishing unbeaten on 102 and Ibrahim Zadran adding an impressive 80 further up the order.
With Prashant Kumar (3-27), Usman Ilyas (2-41), Ziya Mohamed (2-31) and Mark Firth (2-17) each finishing with at least a couple of wickets, Ickenham never looked capable of challenging Hill’s total, and they were dismissed for 165 in 35.1 overs. Victory lifts Boyne Hill to sixth, 41 points behind leaders Stoke Green with six matches to be played.
Cookham Dean’s form continues to falter as they lost by nine wickets to Cove, leaving them down in seventh position. Having been put into bat the visitors were bowled out for just 70 runs in 22.3 overs, with Short taking 6-19 and S Reed 3-26. Randall (49no) then scored the majority of Cove’s runs as they easily chased down Dean’s total for the loss of one wicket in 15 overs.
In Division 2A Henley and Marlow remain locked together at the top of the table, separated by a handful of points, after both sides won again.
Marlow defeated Tring Park 2nds by six wickets and Henley got the better of Chesham 2nds by three wickets as both sides pull further clear at the top.
Tring Park were bowled out for 103 in 42.4 overs, with Imran Nawaz taking 3-9 and Sam North 3-16, and Phil Lines helped polish off the runs, scoring an unbeaten 37 as the visitors chased their target in 28.5 overs.
Maidenhead & Bray did their survival hopes the power of good, as they defeated Hounslow & Whitton, the team just above them in the table, by 115 runs.
The side’s second victory of the season brought them to within five points of eighth placed Hounslow and was sealed in comprehensive fashion thanks to an impressive bowling display.
Having been bowled out for 174 in 51.2 overs, with Max Thomas scoring 50 and Alkesh Vaja making 42, Bray bowled out their visitors for a paltry 59 runs, with Alkesh Vaja taking 5-11. Jas Malhotra took 7-44 for Hounslow.
In Division 2B Hurst managed to steady the ship with a morale-boosting nine-wicket win over Bagshot.
Having bowled out Bagshot for 98 runs in 29.3 overs, with Phil Higgs taking 3-18 and Abhir Joshi 5-9, James Watt (49no) and Tim Walder (31no) helped knock off the runs in 26.1 overs.
Sonning have been knocked off top spot in Division 3A after they were held to a draw by fourth placed Royal Ascot. Having made 183-9 from their 52 overs, Sonning were a wicket away from claiming victory, but
Ascot held on to see out their 48 overs on 1129. Tobias Allday top scored with 68 for Sonning, with Tharindu Denipitiyage making 47 in Ascot’s reply. Michael King finished with figures of 3-23 for Sonning, but he and his teammates weren’t able to claim Ascot’s elusive final wicket as James Summers (0no) and Aarav Radhakrishnan (5no) blocked out the final balls.
Windsor have nipped up to third, above Ascot, after their seven-wicket win over
Cove 2nds. Having put their visitors into bat, Windsor dismissed Cove for 124 in the 35th over, with Ryan Lewin taking impressive figures of 7-26.
In reply, Vamshi Lingala (55) and Vishal Nair (38no) showed good form as Windsor chased their target for the loss of three wickets in 23.1 overs.
White Waltham also rose up a few places to fifth after their six-wicket win over struggling Taplow. The second bottom side were bowled out for 191 in 43.1 overs, with Yasir Ahmed producing some excellent shots for his score of 81. Harvey Grout (3-36) and Cloudesley Long (5-51) eventually turned the tide and, with Dan Molloy (40), Nikhil Jathavedan (52) and Chris Metherell (44no) in fine form, they needed little encouragement to chase down Taplow’s total, losing just four wickets in the process.
Promotion chasers Farnham Royal lost ground on leaders NPL in Division 3B after their match with Burnham 2nds was abandoned. NPL now hold a 19-point advantage over second placed Royal after beating Gerrards Cross 2nds by seven wickets. Wraysbury are third after they drew with Stoke Green.
Farnham Common are now 35 points clear at the top of Division 5A after they beat Princes Risborough by eight wickets.
Hassan Malick scored an unbeaten 107 as Common chased down Risborough’s 204-10 in 31 overs for the loss of two wickets. Sher Afgan also scored 43 while Malick also took 3-55 and Saad Aamer 4-33 to limit Risborough’s progress with the bat.
Wooburn Narkovians are down to third after losing by 133 runs to Amersham 3rds.