FINCHAMPSTEAD (22 points) took victory with an eight-wicket triumph over EVERSLEY who fell from first to third in Thames Valley division 2b with just their second defeat of the campaign.
Sam Kennet top scored for Eversley in their first innings with 35, but the brilliant bowling of Michael O’Donahue (3-30) and Varun Sanjeev (3-25) limited Eversley to a score of 144 before they were bowled all out after 32.5 overs.
Finchampstead made light work of chasing down the total, losing just two wickets in the process. Simon Bell top scored for Finch with 52, while Matthew Eldridge (42*) and Ed Oliver (37*) finished the job to seal an impressive win.
Finch closed the gap to the sides above them in the division but stay in fifth after three wins from their seven matches.
HURST (22 points) jumped up to second in the table after they defeated Thatcham Town by five wickets.
Smith was the star of the show with the ball as he took 4-15 to help dismiss Thatcham for just 102 after 36.4 overs.
Hurst lost five wickets but claimed a fairly comfortable victory after 28.2 overs with their fourth victory of the season to climb above Eversley in the table.
BINFIELD dropped to ninth place after they were thrashed by league leaders Reading by 109 runs.
Binfield were set a chase of 212 after Reading’s first innings score, with Pavendeep Chima hitting 101 runs. Binfield fell well short as they were dismissed all out for 103 as they fell to their fourth defeat in seven matches.
SONNING (nine points) slipped down to fourth in division 3a after they were beaten by Aldershot.
Mark Richards scored a half century for Sonning as they set Aldershot a total of 152 to win the match.
James Kennealy bowled found three wickets as he took 3-31, but it wouldn’t be enough as Aldershot clinched victory in a tightly contested match to move above Sonning in the table.
FINCHAMPSTEAD 3s (22 points) took their third win of the season to close the gap on opponents Sulhamstead & Ufton with a 36-run win.
Richard Reed hit 60 runs, while Kwame Appiah added 47 to give Finch a first innings total of 177 after 40 overs.
Ben Cole was the outstanding candidate in the bowling attack as he took 4-18 to help Finch to victory as they had Sulhamstead all out for 141 with just two overs remaining.
WHITE WALTHAM (five points) stay in eighth position after they were beaten by league leaders Windsor.
The table toppers were ruthless in their bowling and fielding as they managed to remove White Waltham all out for just 82 after 33.2 overs.
Despite their disappointing batting display, White Waltham were superb in the field and made it a thoroughly entertaining spectacle as they ran Windsor close.
Luke Beard (3-21) and Cloudesley Long (4-11) bowled superbly but Windsor managed to get over the line after 31.2 overs having lost seven wickets.
WOKINGHAM 3s (22 points) are still at the summit of division 4a after they beat Falkland 2s
by four wickets.
Falkland batted first and set the Oaks a total of 163 to win the match. Edward Fox-Smith was the top scorer with 60 not out, while Chinmay Kulkarni hit 30 with Wokingham clinching victory with four wickets and 1.2 overs to spare.
WARGRAVE 2s (22 points) took the win in a close game against EVERSLEY 2s (seven points) with a four wicket win with just four balls to spare.
YATELEY (22 points) remain at the top of division 6b after they beat SONNING 2s (10 points) by just one run. Maxfield smashed a century in the first innings as Yateley recorded a big total of 227.
But Sonning were up to the task as Rowe hit 52 runs, but they fell just one run short of victory as they were bowled all out with three balls left in a tense finish. Garood starred with the ball as he took 5-28 for the league leaders.
WARGRAVE 3s (six points) were condemned to their third loss of the season as Fleet 2s beat them by seven wickets.
Wargrave finished with a first innings total of 150 after Venu Gopal top scored with 38. But Fleet sailed to victory, losing just three wickets and winning with over two overs to spare.
WHITE WALTHAM 2s (seven points) were dealt a defeat by bottom of the table Theale & Tilehurst as they dropped to seventh in division 6b in their fourth defeat of the campaign.
Michael Chapman scored 69, while Harvey Grout scored a half century without losing his wicket to see White Waltham record 181 after 40 overs.
However, Theale & Tilehurst batted stupendously to take the win, losing just three wickets on their way to surpassing the total set by White Waltham with just three balls remaining.
EVERSLEY 3s (22 points) are still at the top of division 7a after they thrashed WOKINGHAM 4s (seven points) by 109 runs.
Matthew Salter hit 78 runs as Eversley recorded a first innings score of 190 after their allotted 40 overs.
Ollie Heywood then took 3-6 for Eversley as Wokingham only managed to score 81 runs from their 40 overs, falling well short to leave them at the bottom of the table.
FINCHAMPSTEAD 4s (22 points) are just a point behind Eversley in second place after they beat BINFIELD 3s (eight points) by eight runs.
Rose scored 52 for Finch to help them score 168, a score that was limited after the superb bowling of Paul Morgan for Binfield who took 5-36.
Tim Vines scored 59 not out to take Binfield close to Finch’s total, but they fell just eight runs shy of the target with one wicket to spare in the match in a narrow defeat.
WOKINGHAM 5s (22 points) climbed up to third in division 8a after they beat Theale & Tilehurst 3s by five wickets.
Toqir took 3-7 as Theale set the Oaks a target of 135 to take victory.
Khalid was top scorer for Wokingham with 37 as they took the win with just five balls to spare in a tight finish to the match.
FINCHAMPSTEAD 5s (22 points) boosted their league position with a 35-run triumph over EVERSLEY 4s (eight points) to move up into fourth.
Woodford was the highest scorer for Finch with 60, while Ellis performed well with the ball for Eversley as he took 3-23.
Arnold took 3-36 as Eversley fell 35-runs short of the target set by Finch. Despite the loss, Eversley moved up one place into eighth.
