Middleton make T20 final... Bognor and Priory win again

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Middleton v Roffey

T20 Cup semi-final

Middleton beat Premier League leaders Roffey in the semi-final of the T20 competition in front of a large crowd at Sea Lane.

Sean Heather invited Roffey to bat. Middleton got off to a dream start and when Heather took a superb diving catch of the bowling of Brandon Hanley to claim the key wicket of Rohit Jagota Roffey found themselves 12 for three.

Josh Fleming had been removed by a smart catch by Will Burrows off Keelan Shoulders in the first over and Usman Khan was yorked by Hanley for three.

It was left to Chris Webb (73) to give the Roffey bowlers something to bowl at. They finished on 158-7.

In response the Middleton batters set off in positive fashion, Heather and Patrick Colvin setting up victory by putting on 63 in a second-wicket stand.

The fall of Colvin for 38 brought Ben Ferbrache in to join Heather and the pair knocked of the remaining runs without further loss. Heather finished on 67, including nine fours and two sixes, and Ferbrache on 35.

The winning runs came off the first ball of the 19th over.

Middleton will meet Horsham in the final on August 21 at the County Ground in Hove, their second consecutive season in the final.

On Saturday Middleton host Ansty in the league.

Ifield v Middleton

Sussex League division two

Middleton travelled to Ifield missing three of their regular front-line bowlers.

Ifield included Dinesh Salunkhe in their bowling attack, a spinner second in the overall league bowling charts with more than 40 wickets to his name this season.

Conditions were warm and sunny and the wicket looked like one made to take spin.

Ifield won the toss and elected to bat. The Middleton bowlers found it tough going with nothing in the wicket for their seamers, although Jamie Thompson took 3-40 and Matt Reynolds’ leg spin earned him 3-76 from 21 overs.

The bowlers stuck to their task and had restricted Ifield to 210-7 when they declared their innings at the end of the 51st over. Mike Norris (66) and Ed Sykes (33) shared a partnership of 101.

It wasn’t long into the Middleton innings before Salunkhe and fellow spinners Jigar Parekh and Paul Clifford were introduced and the Middleton batters found it hard-going.

The batsmen dug in and played with great application with Beck Hemingway (30) and Sean Heather (34) initially leading the way.

However quick wickets left Middleton 75-4 and a first loss of the season might have been a possibility.

Patrick Colvin had very different ideas, however, and batted for 83 balls for 65, well supported by Matt Reynolds (13) in a 6th wicket partnership of 51 which secured a draw.

Pagham v Eastbourne

Sussex League division two

Eastbourne decided to bat first on a hard, dry wicket at Pagham.

Pete Cotterill made an early breakthrough but the visiting batsmen soon found conditions to their liking and were scoring at over six an over.

But the wickets of Dan Webb (36) and Delroy Rawlins (45) pegged them back and after 34 overs they had reached 169 for six.

This led to an onslaught by the lower-order batsmen led by 54 from Toby Pullan in which 102 were scored in ten overs.

Cotterill ended with four for 80 and Albert Burgess took two for 32 on his debut.

Eastbourne declared in the 45th over on 271 for eight.

Pagham made a steady start until Chris Hayden was adjudged lbw. Wickets continued too fall regularly with only Stuart Rutter (48) showing any resilience.

At 141 for six the game looked over but Jo Metz had other ideas and batted magnificently to score 104 in 68 balls including 15 fours and five sixes.

Metz was eventually out with Pagham all out for 239. Jacob Smith (5-74) was the pick of the Eastbourne bowlers.

Lindfield v Bognor

Sussex League division two

Batting first, Bognor lost Max Ashmore early – but Ryan Maskell and Rob Willway rebuilt nicely, both passing 50 and moving the away side into a strong position.

Although Willway fell for 52, Maskell pushed on to 97 before falling agonisingly short of another league century.

No other batsman was able to add greatly to the total in the search for quick runs, with Simon Shivnarain and Tem Hodson taking three wickets apiece, Bognor finishing on 226-8.

The total was to prove more than enough as Bognor’s spin trio of Willway, Joe Ashmore and Jamie Woolnough shared seven wickets, with Ashmore taking 4-23 from his eight overs in a typically-impressive display.

Adam Wright’s 40 for Lindfield was the only meaningful resistance as Bognor wrapped up the 30 points, Lindfield all out for 160.

Chichester v Goring

Sussex League division three

A strong performance was needed against Goring at Priory Park for the hosts to keep pace with the sides above them – and that’s what they delivered.

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky when Chichester captain Johnny Heaven won the toss and elected to bat.

Openers Peter Lamb and Ezaz looked positive. Ezaz looked in excellent form, striking the bowlers to all corners of Priory Park as he raced to a half century off 34 balls.

He was dismissed for 59 but Lamb and Jolyon Dannatt put on 83 for the second wicket as Goring began to wilt. With Dannatt dismissed for 30, all attention turned to Lamb as he inched towards a century. Unfortunately he fell for 93, chopping left-arm spinner Ben Timms on to his stumps.

By this point the score was well over 200 but George Stephens (39no) and Sam Harvey accelerated the scoring further.

Harvey became the third Chichester batsman to score 50 and ended on 56 not out.

Captain Heaven, declared on 281 for 3 – the best batting performance by a Chichester side this year.

Chasing 282 in 49 overs was always going to be tough and it was made more challenging by Goring batting with ten men after one player suffered a finger injury in the first innings.

Three early wickets fell, leaving them seven for three. The pitch, docile earlier in the day, suddenly looked like a minefield as Chichester’s bowlers looked like they could take a wicket. Some resistance was offered by Marques Clarke (30) but he soon became Dan Joseph’s third victim.

Goring captain Ross Baumann (34) dug in as the lower order offered resistance. Baumann and Timms frustrated the hosts for over 15 overs, boosting Goring’s slim hopes of a draw.

Then Heaven induced a loose shot from Timms and Matt Geffen took the catch at short leg. Harvey quickly polished off the final two wickets as Goring were bowled out for 91, giving the hosts victory by a massive 190 runs.

All the other sides in the top five also won with maximum points so Chichester remain fourth. They travel to Findon on Saturday.

Bognor 2nd v West Chiltington and Thakeham 2nd

2nd XI division three west

On a glorious day at the Regis Oval, the visitors elected to field.

Josh Broad and skipper Josh Seward went about accumulating runs on a decent deck. Both passed 50 but Broad was stumped for 87.

Seward, with his usual panache, made a maiden league hundred but with his brother Luke Seward’s club record of 167 not out in his sights, the gloveman was dismissed for 151 and Bognor promptly declared on 292 for four.

The guests’ task was made trickier as all-rounder Tom Woolnough (3-36) nipped out two batters to leave them five for two.

Evergreen seamer Rich Cox joined the parade by grabbing three for 61 but the visitors’ Josh Reeves dug in to make a valiant 81 not out. Bognor threw the kitchen sink at them but they held firm to finish on 188 for 7, the match drawn.

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