Priory stun Steyning... Stirlands' hopes go West

Below are the latest reports from divisions three and four of the Sussex Cricket League.

Steyning v Chichester Priory Park

Sussex League division three

Chichester Priory Park travelled to the South Downs to take on Steyning – and notched their third win in a row.

The hosts won the toss and under sunny skies chose to bat first.

Chichester’s pace bowlers have been in excellent form this season and this run continued as Dan Joseph took a wicket with the second ball of the game. He then removed David Curtis-Botting in his next over to leave the hosts 0 for 2.

There was no respite at the other end for the beleaugered hosts with Matt Geffen charging in. The Chichester bowler had taken 15 wickets in the past two games and he added to his total in the fourth over, Chris Barnett the victim.

Joseph and Geffen’s excellent control of line and length coupled with pace proved too much for Steyning. Only three batsmen reached double figures with captain Dave Kennett top-scoring with 14.

Joseph put the hosts out of their misery in the 33rd over, drawing an edge from Bart Poyser. Geffen caught it at slip as Steyning were bowled out for just 71.

Chichester’s opening bowlers bowled all 32.4 overs between them, Geffen taking three for 24 and Joseph seven for 41, his second best figures of all time.

A target of 72 should have been easy to chase down; however, if Chichester have had one weakness this year it’s been at the top of their batting order.

Steyning had to bowl well if they stood any chance of winning the game and they did just that. Chichester stumbled to 18 for three and the hosts were looking dangerous.

Fortunately for Chichester the early conclusion of the previous innings meant they could retreat to the pavillion to regroup during the tea interval.

After the break, Steyning’s momentum had been broken and after giving themselves a couple of overs to get settled, Chichester set about quicking chasing the target.

George Perry looked in a hurry as he blasted 46 runs off 43 balls. His two towering sixes were a highlight of his match-winning innings. Peter Lamb (12no) hit the winning run as Chichester notched a seven-wicket victory.

Another maximum haul of 30 points capaults Chichester up to second place, just 22 points behind the league leaders. They will look to keep themselves firmly in the promotion places when they host Mayfield at Priory Park this Saturday.

Stirlands v West Chiltington

Division four

With confidence high from the previous week’s victory, Stirlands took on the league new boys West Chiltington & Thakeham.

Captain George Coles won the toss and batted. Opening pair Leo Wilkinson-Beal and Torquil Deacon were soon split as Wilkinson-Beal was run out for seven.

Captain Coles came in but West Chiltington were able to restrict both batsmen before snatching the crucial wicket of Coles for only 20.

The visitors picked up wickets at regular intervals including Deacon for a well-constructed 47. The last pair put on 41 to help Lavant to a competitive 181.

Early wickets were required for the home side but didn’t come as West Chiltington’s openers started aggressively – the break-through didn’t come until the score had reached 81.

With opener Sanchit Batra closing in on a rapid 100, the breakthrough came for Stirlands, as they ran him out and opened the door. Wickets tumbled and the visitors suffered a mini-collapse to 125 for six.

Enter ex-Hastings star bowler Tim Van Noort, who with James Howgate turned the game back on its head with some IPL-inspired hitting to give the visitors victory by four wickets and earn 30 points.

Stirlands took only 11 points. Next week they travel to Seaford.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking sports news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be among the first to know what’s going on.

1 Make this website your homepage

2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex

3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex

4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

Share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!