CALA Homes sponsored Sparsholt came off second best as the top two teams in the league faced off, losing by 6 wickets to Rowledge, writes Tom Moody. Jayden Derosa made 97 not out whilst Mike Haworth looked the most dangerous with the ball, taking 2-29.

Sparsholt batted first, and openers Ed Jenner and Jayden Derosa scored runs at a good pace. Jenner hit seven boundaries, including two sixes and a four which took the visitors past 50, whilst Derosa was also having no trouble finding the boundary. Sparsholt lost their first wicket as Ed Jenner fell for 39. Sparsholt lost two more quick wickets, as Lewis Dunford (7) and Jon Sankey (0) fell to put the score at 98-3. Tim Vokes hit a four but was caught and bowled on the next ball for 9. Derosa reached his 50 with a single flicked down the leg side. Dave Gough made 4 before he was stumped, leaving the score at 139-5. Mike Haworth made a quick fire 14 before he was also stumped after trying to up the run rate.  Jon Vokes (4) and Andy Worth (3) helped the visitors past 200. Derosa came close to his first century of the season finishing on 97 not out, including a six off of the final ball to set a target of 208-8.  The pick of the bowlers was David Lloyd claiming 3-28.

Like Sparsholt, the Rowledge openers started strongly, putting on 40 before Alex Dilley finally broke through, bowling Nick Morant for 21. Mike Haworth took his first wicket not long after being introduced into the bowling attack, with Lewis Dunford diving to take a good catch. There was a moment of confusion as Tim Vokes helped the ball onto the stumps to seemingly run out Chris Yates. Although the bails didn’t come off, the umpire judged them to have been significantly dislodged to give the run out. After much debate, Sparsholt captain Andy Worth called the batsman back to carry on his innings. However it didn’t last much longer, as Yates was dismissed by Jayden Derosa, leaving the hosts 85-3 at drinks. After drinks, Rowledge pushed on with both Ricky Yates and Chris Broad passing 50 and Sparsholt’s heads began to drop. In his penultimate over, Haworth took his second wicket as keeper Adam Gough made the catch, but it was too little too late as Rowledge reached their target with consecutive sixes.

Despite this defeat, Sparsholt remain second knowing that a win next week at home to relegation-threatened Langley Manor will guarantee them promotion.

Sparsholt’s 2nd team, who are chasing promotion, gained maximum points this weekend with a crunching win against ‎Wherwell.

Sparsholt won the toss and elected to bowl‎. Wickets quickly began to tumble. Sparsholt's opening bowlers made a great start, with Haida Ali taking 6 for 49 and Thomas Foster took 2 for 13, whilst Mike Doubell took a further 2 wickets. Sparsholt took all their chances in the field, with one particularly spectacular catch taken by 14 year old Nick Doubell. Wherwell batted just 17 of their 45 over innings, all out for 67.

S‎parsholt efficiently knocked off the runs without fuss, securing a 10 wicket victory and maximum points, just what they needed to aid their promotion chase. Opening batsmen David Coulthard and George Potter both ended the match unbeaten on 29.

Sparsholt are looking forward to the final match of the season next Saturday, with another good win needed‎ for the chance of promotion.

Sparsholt’s thirds got back to winning ways with a 3 wicket win over Compton & Chandlers Ford 4th team. Batting remained tricky at North Walls as C&CF batted first, and compiled 146-7 off their 20 overs. Best bowling figures were returned by James Dorward, aided by some fine fielding, with 3-39 from 10 overs. Simon Herridge pitched in with 2-15 on a rare 3s appearance, with Mungo Patterson the other wicket taker taking 1-25.
In reply, Martin Patterson departed early, having managed to drag a wide one back onto his stumps, but Steve Rowe dug in and top scored with 40. He was ably assisted by Craig Charlesworth (18) and Simon Herridge (33). But with Steve's dismissal in the 30th over, 40 were still needed off the last 12. Any nerves that were showing were dealt with by Alex Thornton's 19* (and Will Selley's 10 and Andy Trivett's 9) before Mungo Patterson hit the winning runs with 7 balls to spare.