Quick draw McCraw takes four

PAUL McCRAW took four wickets to keep Wokingham 2s’ survival hopes alive after finally picking up their first victory of the season.

It’s been a tough campaign for the Oaks in Division 2b with just three draws to show for their efforts heading into Saturday’s clash with fellow strugglers HURST.

But they finally broke their duck with a 79-run win at the home of their neighbours.

After losing an early wicket, Wokingham responded with Manpreet Singh (50) and

Salman Khalid (30) putting on an important stand.

Craig Beales (22) and Jack Fisher (22) also contributed well to take the score into three figures, but a late batting collapse left the game in the balance with Hurst needing 174 for victory.

Phil Higgs (3-31) and Nick Reynolds (2-15) were the pick of the home side’s bowlers.

But Wokingham made a blistering start with the ball, leaving Hurst wobbling on 2-2 as Callum Creighton and Charlie Carter each took an early wicket.

Jack Wrigley came in and survived 35 balls, but only added one run to the scoreboard before Carter removed him, as well as

Sam Hawkes (2), eventually ending with figures of 3-20.

The shambolic batting display continued with only Oliver Lovegrove (19) reaching double figures with McCraw in fine form, leading the charge as he took four wickets for the cost of just 23 runs in eight overs.

The win was sealed as Hurst were all out for 94 after 29 overs to leave the Oaks nine points adrift of safety with two games to play.

In the same league, FINCHAMPSTEAD 2s strengthened their grip on a top half spot after cruising past Thatcham Town by 100 runs.

Impressive knocks from Gary Loveday (99no) and Matt Eldridge (91) set Finches on their way to a first innings total of 267-4.

Mike O’Donohue then took over with the ball, posting fine figures of 4-5 to keep Thatcham’s score down before they ended on 167-6 from their 35 overs.

WARGRAVE kept their promotion hopes alive with a fivewicket win at Royal Ascot.

With rain around, the Duckworth-Lewis Method was required to set a new target for Wargrave to chase after Ascot had posted 229-8 with Jack Clark (3-46) the leading bowler.

And the visitors got across the line after 42 overs, reaching 192-5 as Neal Robinson (60no), Sam Bowers (56) and Imran Malik (34) all made notable contributions as Wargrave move 28 points off top spot.

Over in 2a, EVERSLEY’S promotion dream was dashed by a heavy defeat at leaders Hayes.

The top two were separated by 47 points at the start of play but the Boars have now slipped to third, 61 points off the pace with just three games to play.

Eversley batted first and set a target of 180 for victory with Saranya Madina (32), Phil Wise (34) and Joe Tucker (26) the leading scorers, but Hayes made light work of the task.

Khartik Khanti’s unbeaten knock of 94 could not prevent defeat for FINCHAMPSTEAD 3s against Wooburn Narkovians in 3a.

Finches would have fancied their chances against a side with just one win all season, but they struggled with the ball as Wooburn closed on 269-9.

Rain meant the Adjusted Run Rate (ARR) method was required to set a new target for the hosts, but Finch fell 12 runs short, closing on 180-6 with Sean Woodward (35) the closest to Khanti’s score.

SONNING are still stuck at the bottom of the 3b table after being thrashed by 128 runs against NPL.

The visitors posted a huge tally of 305-7 and Sonning never looked like chasing it down, reaching 177-8 with Dan Anderson (54no) and Duncan Parr (39) the leading scorers.

Defeat means Sonning are 24 points off safety with three games to play, starting with a trip to Ickenham on Saturday.

Wynand Lamprecht was the star performer as BINFIELD cruised to another victory in 4a.

The runaway leaders have lost just once all season and they made easy work of Reading 2s, bowling them out for 76 with Lamprecht taking five wickets. WOKINGHAM 3s saw their lead atop 5b cut to just six points following defeat at fellow promotion-chasing EVERSLEY 2s.

Jake Staples took four wickets for the Oaks as Eversley closed on 206-9 with Will Perkin (62no) and Paul Ager (42) the leading scorers. Eversley won by six wickets.

WARGRAVE 2s are the nearest challengers after their comprehensive 152-run win over Aldershot 2s.

Charlie Moss (63), Sravan Konidena (64) and Hareesh Reddy (48no) led the charge as Wargrave set a daunting target of 308 for Aldershot to chase.

SONNING 2s look set for relegation after a seven-wicket loss at Falkland 3s. Syed Naqi (36) top scored for Sonning, but their total of 146 all out was not enough for victory.