PUTTENHAM struck another telling blow in their quest for a first I'Anson championship when they beat Dogmersfield by one wicket on Saturday.
Keith Smith's half-century pulled Puttenham back from what looked a losing position and, in a gripping finish, the last pair of Paul Crouch and Jolly secured the victory.
Dogmersfield's decision to bat first on a good wicket was rewarded by a solid opening partnership of 56 between Neil Shirley and Hindle. Puttenham's fightback was instigated by Paul Crouch, who had both openers caught behind, and Richard Champneys, who took three middle-order wickets including that of Eddie Smith who top scored with 40. The visitors were eventually out for a competitive 165 in the 44th over.
Puttenham got off to a shaky start, with Eddie Smith taking two quick wickets, and the home side were in trouble at 25-4. Lumsden and Randall batted well to steady the innings, but it was Smith, coming in under pressure at number 7, who made the win possible with an excellent 55. However, it required the last pair of Crouch and Jolly to see their side home in the 42nd over.
Lindford, fresh from their win over Headley, held second-placed Cranleigh SA to a draw on a plumb batting track that produced nearly 400 runs. Knight completed an unbeaten half-century for St Andrews and with Smith, newcomer Gwillym Thomas and Greenwood also having good knocks, the visitors set Lindford a target of 220 in 45 overs.
They were given a great start by Henderson and Gray who put on 90 for the first wicket, with Gray reaching his first I'Anson fifty for Lindford. But Cranleigh kept the run-rate in check, with Thomas conceding just 11 runs in eight overs. And with wickets beginning to fall, the Broxhead side settled for two points.
Tilford's gamble of inserting Headley on a hard, bouncy wicket looked to have backfired as the visitors raced to 71 in just 12 overs. However, the introduction of Crawte gradually got Tilford back into the game, and there was also the unfortunate run-out of Ashley Cook who was done for by Crawte's boot while backing up.
Headley's total of 180 never looked enough, but Tilford struggled as several batsmen contrived to get themselves out. The notable exception was Hamish Macdonald who dominated the bowling with a powerful 88 not out, of which 70 came in boundaries. He finally found a partner in brother Alistair and these two saw Tilford home with 11 overs to spare. Arend bowled well enough to give the home side the odd butterfly, but without a full complement of fielders (two had left early), he simply had no margin for error.
Wood Street are relying heavily on the bowling of Kevin Haymon. Another marathon spell of remarkably accurate spin forced Grayshott to bat 48 overs. In fact, the champions were in early trouble against Wright and Haymon, and only a late stand between Coleshill (35 not out) and Lindsey-Clark got them up to 141-8.
But Wood Street, in turn, were bottled up by the slow bowling of Mark Sobey who returned outstanding figures of 5 for 27 in 17 overs. After a solid start, Wood Street toiled to 123-7 (Wright 33) and Grayshott took the extra points.
The Bourne struggled to get runs through the early overs at Fernhurst, but again their batting strength in strength came to the rescue. Nick Hales, batting at 8, scored a well-timed fifty and valuable contributions from Cole and Rooke, 9 and 10, saw the visitors to 174-8 in the full 48 overs.
It proved easily enough to beat struggling Fernhurst. The top order was removed by Frommholz and Rooke, and the tail was cleaned up by Cole who finished with 3 for 4 in 4.1 overs. Raleigh made a brave 23, but Fernhurst were all out for 86.
Frensham's opening partnership between Maxwell and Harrison lasted too long for Thursley to have any hope of bowling the visitors out. Maxwell appeared to be constructing a fine century before he was well caught by Tim Treadwell, but Pete Harrison did indeed score the first 100 for Frensham 1st XI this season, allowing stand-in skipper Chuter to declare after 40 overs.
Thursley lost key man Sylvester to a good ball from Nick Green and wickets continued to fall, although Tye and Fuller got the scoreboard moving. Tilson stayed at the crease for what seemed an age, but was finally beaten by a Stone 'cut-back'. It was left to Pilbeam and the late order to see out 20-odd overs after Thursley decided to make sure they got something out of the game.