Middleton miss T20 prize ... Extras top-score for Pagham

Here are the latest reports from our local Sussex League division-two teams.

Three Bridges v Middleton

Division two

Middleton drove into a storm on their way to Three Bridges – and arrived to find a waterlogged ground.

Hard work by the players meant the umpires were happy the ground was fit for a T20 game.

The league rules state that where insufficient time is available for a normal game, the teams can play a T20 which sees the winner awarded 20 points and the loser ten.

Skipper Sean Heather won the toss and invited Three Bridges to bat first.

The score had moved to 32 before Beck Hemingway caught opener Conor Golding off Brandon Hanley for 16. A partnership of 41 followed between Ian Church and Victor Davies.

Matt Reynolds broke through with a wicket off the very first ball of his first over, the 12th of the game, having Davies caught by Jamie Thompson for 13.

The Middleton bowlers dominated from that point and at the end of their 20 overs Three Bridges finished on 114 for eight. Only opener Church with 56 really made any impression. Pick of the Middleton bowlers was Heather with three for 13 off his three overs.

In reply Middleton opened with Heather and Hemingway. Heather was in a mood to get things finished quickly and scored an unbeaten 88 seeing his side home in the 13th over two wickets down. His 88 included nine fours and seven sixes.

Middleton v Horsham

County League T20 final

For the second season running Middleton reached the league T20 final and they were backed by good numbers of fans at Hove.

Horsham fielded a side containing five current or ex-county players, with first starts in the tournament this season for Will Beer and George Garton. Garton featured for England under-19s last season against the touring Australians.

Horsham won the toss and elected to bat. Tom Johnson got his side away to an explosive start hitting the first two balls of the second over for six.

Beer gave a tough chance to a diving Beck Hemingway early in his innings but when Johnson was first out with the score on 90 his own contribution was 62 from just 32 balls.

There was a flurry of wickets with Beer next to go, caught by Hemingway off Jamie Thompson.

Next to go was Jofra Archer, playing against his old club, for just one – he was caught off Will Searle – and when Garton was bowled by Thompson for just two with the score on 96 for four it looked like a game might be on.

Michael Thornley, having played for, among others both Sussex and Leicestershire in his first-class career had different ideas however and saw his side to a total of 161 at the end of the 20th over, unbeaten on 47. All the Middleton bowlers bowled well with Thompson (3-33) the pick.

Middleton opened with Heather and Hemingway. Horsham’s attack opened with the Sussex duo of Archer and Garton, and in his first over Garton bowled Heather for one.

Hemingway was caught for nought and Will Burrows bowled for five, and when Ben Ferbrache was fourth man out for 16 the score was just 36.

Middleton never really recovered but spirited batting by all their batsmen saw them finish on 108 for nine at the end of their 20 overs. Patrick Colvin 16 and Thompson with 21 were their main scorers.

Pagham v Ansty

Division two

Pagham’s poor season turned into a nightmare against Ansty.

At 2.45pm Ansty were 95 for nine and Pagham might well have had ideas of a win. However, Ansty’s last-wicket pair of Jake Wilson (70no) and Glenn Anason (54no) put on 134 to change the face of the game.

Ansty declared at 229 for nine after 52 overs – only Peter Cotterill (5-79) and Tom Kent (3-40) came out with any credit.

If Pagham thought things couldn’t get any worse they were wrong as they were bowled out in 9.4 overs for an embarrassing 23 – of which 13 were extras.

Jake Wilson fisnished with six for seven and Jethro Menzies four for three. Wayne Green top scored for Pagham for the first time in three years ... with four runs, the only boundary.

Pagham go to Lindfield on Saturday hoping for a massive improvement.

Eastbourne v Bognor

Division two

Losing the toss at the Saffrons, Bognor fielded first and toiled as Jacob Smith and Dan Wells put on 106 for the first wicket.

However, a quick double from Richard Cox accounted for both openers and Eastbourne promptly capitulated to 156-7 as Charlie Hunter and Rob Willway had success.

A rapid 36 from David Twine, supported by 15-year-old Alastair Orr (41*), saw Eastbourne reach 219-8, Willway finishing with 3-58.

In Bognor’s reply, Mike Harris and Willway fell to Ben Twine but Zayne Bux and Max Ashmore rebuilt, the latter facing a barrage of short balls from the Eastbourne seamers, doing his best to swallow a particularly nasty bumper in the process, leaving a fairly impressive bruise on his throat.

Ryan Maskell’s rapid 56 put Bognor in a commanding position as he took a particular liking to the spin of Delray Rawlins.

Twine accounted for Ashmore (78) and Maskell in the same over and a flurry of wickets in near-darkness meant Bognor finished on 202-8, the draw a fair result.

Bognor 2nd XI v Southwater 2nd XI

2nd XI div three west

On a blustery day at the Regis Oval, Bognor’s lively skipper Josh Broad won the toss and elected to field as the hosts looked to gain some end-of-season momentum.

Dan Winslow made merry combining swing and seam to nip out Southwater’s top order and to claim a season’s-best four for 30.

Middle-order resistance for the visitors came from James Cooper with 54 but Bognor’s burly all-rounder Sam Adams zipped in to grab two for 22 and with the finishing touches being applied by the bullish Elliott Clarke with three for 28 with his zippy leg-breaks, Southwater were 147 all out.

Bognor’s reply came with the usual fireworks from Adams as he battered a brisk 25 but it was skipper Broad’s dashing blade that saw the hosts home with a fine 74 not out containing 12 fours.

Winning by eight wickets, the Bognor boys are looking to finish the season strongly.

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