PUTTENHAM skipper Aks Ilyas elected to bat in this crucial I’Anson Division One match and fell early to Mitch Brown who also dismissed Sajad Hussain, but then James Crouch joined James Andrews in a punishing partnership.

Both completed half-centuries and after a further, unbroken partnership with Dan Harrison, Crouch was 80 not out when Puttenham made an early declaration at 206-4 from 40 overs.

Wrecclesham’s ten men were never going to last 50 overs against the formidable Puttenham attack and it would have been all over much earlier but for opener Jamie Litherland who carried his bat for 56 not out. He ran out of partners as Samad Hussain took 3-5 in four overs and Wrecclesham were dismissed for 93 in 32 overs.

Blackheath had a tougher time against third-placed Frensham on a Heath wicket which was soft at one end and bone- dry at the other. Of Frensham’s five bowlers, skipper Sam Farncombe was the most effective with 5-25 in 9.3 overs and Blackheath, despite a disciplined 57 from Harry Giles, looked short of a winning total at 169 all out in the 48th over.

Frensham, still with a mathematical chance of the title themselves, were out to win or bust in their last game of the season, but required George Breddy to play a long innings. However, Alex Bertola got both openers and it was left to James Wood to lead the run-chase. The other batsmen struggled, particularly against Dallas McDermott who made good use of the conditions, taking 3-38 in 13 overs. Rob Weston returned to have Wood caught for 59 and Frensham were bowled out for 126 in the 39th over.

Witley chose to field first and it looked a good decision when they had Headley becalmed at 15-2 after 11 overs. Runs were hard to come by and a solid fourth-wicket stand of 49 between the Hawtin brothers helped push the score to 82-4 before a flurry of wickets reduced the visitors to 120-7. However, Ken White, top scorer with 35, took Headley to a decent total of 141-8 after 45 overs. Skipper Kurt Lyall was the stand-out bowler with 4-24 from 12 overs, well supported by Charlie Hunt who had 2-28 in 13.

Witley, in contrast, rattled up 42 runs from the first six overs. Adam Keane (42) and Ollie Phillips were in fine form and at 93-2 the home side were cruising. The introduction of Callum Hawtin changed all that and during the course of three consecutive maiden overs, he took four wickets. At 102-6, Witley were in trouble and, with eight wickets down, they still required 25 runs. However, Hunt saved the day with a rapid 22 not out and he and Lyall saw Witley over the line for eight precious points.

Jon Ashworth, who has played mainly in Division Four this season, top-scored with 44 as Grayswood posted 175-8 in 40 overs after being inserted at Dogmersfield.

In reply, the home side were 19-3 and then 31-4, but were determined to end the season in style and Imran Choudhary (40) and Asif Mustafa (37) went for their shots, as did Nick Berridge who struck four sixes in a 20-ball 29. Dogmersfield had reached 155 in the 34th over when Cameron Kent took his third wicket to end the game.

Chiddingfold batted consistently, with six of the first seven batsmen reaching double figures, and a total of 143-9 looked competitive on Grayshott’s big ground. Matt Wright and Paul Ward made 28 apiece and Rob Smith 27 not out, while Danny Brown had excellent figures of 4-21 in 14 overs.

Grayshott, after a couple of early hiccups, got the runs comfortably enough, thanks to a half-century by opener Ravi Sriharan and good knocks from James Cavannagh and (28) and Stuart Kennedy (31 not out).