Cricket: Tough week for Middleton, Bognor and Pagham

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Horsham v Middleton

Sussex Premier League

Conditions were overcast at the toss and so it was no surprise that on winning the toss Horsham invited Middleton to bat first on what generally looked a good batting wicket.

Horsham got the start they wanted when Angus Robson was caught of the last ball of the first over bowled by South African Mika Ekstrom.

Will Burrows and Gerhardt Abrahams took the score to 65, when Abrahams became Ekstrom’s second victim caught by Michael Thornley for 29.

Sean Heather coming in at four shared partnerships of 22 with Burrows (33), 84 with Ben Hansford (53) and 58 with Ben Ferbrache (41). When Heather was sixth out on 88 the Middleton score was on 270. His innings came off 111 balls included three fours and five sixes.

Middleton’s innings closed at the end of their 50 overs at 288-9. Ekstrom finished with 6-71.

Early wickets for Middleton, particularly Horsham captain Michael Thornley for just 27, saw Horsham 63-3 and gave Middleton hope.

But the sun was out and batting seemed easier than earlier in the day and the fourth-wicket pairing of Will Beer and Nick Oxley took full advantage.

They batted very sensibly together and timed their chase of the Middleton total to perfection. The winning run was a no-ball from the first ball of the final over of the match.

Beer ended 142 not out, (15 fours and 2 sixes) and Oxley 78 not out – their unbeaten partnership 223.

Horsham ended on 289-3, with Nick Smith being the pick of the Middleton bowlers with his nine overs costing just 40 runs on a wicket not offering much to the bowlers.

Mayfield v Bognor

Division two

Bognor made the trip east in hope of a second straight victory but fell short.

After winning the toss, Bognor made a solid start with Marques Clarke (29) and Elliott Clarke (29) making use of the powerplay. The boundaries were flowing between the pair before Robert Sharma (2-10) dismissed Marques Clarke with a fine leg-stump yorker.

Bognor’s strong start fell away as the introduction of spin and pace off the ball proved effective in stalling the run rate. At 85-4 Mayfield maintained the pressure on the Bognor side as James Allen (4-26) restricted the runs.

Joe Ashmore (35) looked in good touch before falling to Allen, and with no contributions between the lower order, Bognor were all out for 142.

In response Mayfield were caught cold as opening bowlers Sam Adams (2-19) and Josh Sargeant showed great discipline.

At 27-3 Bognor had made an impressive start. However the Mayfield middle order remained resilient with Jason Martin (53) striking a match-winning half-century.

Joe Ashmore (2-22) made further inroads but Mayfield cruised past the total, winning with three wickets in hand.

Pagham v Crawley

Division three

Crawley won the toss and batted and got away to a brisk start reaching 35, but then lost four quick wickets in reaching 63.

A 108-run partnership looked to have taken the game away from Pagham but good bowling from Joe De La Fuente (4-41) saw Crawly end up 200 all out. Ollie Pearce (2-20) and Nikki Tabberer (2-12) were the other stand-out bowlers.

Tight bowling by Crawley saw Pagham struggle to 68-3 but a superb knock of 107 from De La Fuente looked to have Pagham in a winning position at 159-4.

But having to score at more than seven an over proved too much for the home side and they subsided to 181 all out – losing their last five wickets for no runs. Anjun Zafer (4-29) starred for Crawley as they maintained their 100 per cent record.

Bognor 2nd v Portslade 2nd

Division six west

At the Regis Oval, Bognor’s seconds got back to winning ways.

Portslade won the toss and elected to bat, which looked to be a good choice as the visitors were nicely positioned at 52 for 1. But veteran Bognor seamer Andy McGregor had other ideas as the Aussie maestro nipped in to grab 3-13. With support from skipper Josh Broad with 2-26, the match swung Bognor’s way.

The lively tyro Taylor Jaycocks joined the fray and grabbed 4-7 to end Portslade’s innings on 169 - the man nicknamed Taylor Swift was certainly hitting the high notes with all four victims bowled.

Bognor’s response was swift and clinical as the suave Ollie Adams bashed 16 fours around the Regis Oval but with a ton in his sights, Adams was caught for a fine 96. Bognor won the contest by four wickets. For Portslade, Todd Tucker was the pick of the attack with 3-32.

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