LURGASHALL beat Elstead in the match between the teams placed second and third in I’Anson Division Two.

But it was only by ten runs after a contest that ebbed and flowed throughout.

The bowling of Moisin and Danny Troy had Lurgashall in early difficulties, but they bat deep and some lower-order partnerships around the impressive Oli Rose enabled the home side to post a competitive 213 all out.

Rose made a fine 70 and Darren Hodd a useful 32, while Moisin, Troy (4-63) and Fazal Syed shared the wickets.

The visitors stuttered early on against Ollie Pearce and Aaron Evans, but the game swung Elstead’s way when Australian Troy (60) joined Lewis Sheppard (59) in an excellent stand for the sixth wicket. Pearce returned to dismiss both batsmen and finished with an outstanding 7-68 in 14 overs as Lurgashall grabbed maximum points from a vital victory. Rose held a sharp catch near the end – a defining moment in the game.

Leaders Pirbright recorded their eighth win in eight matches, beating bottom side Headley II in a low-scoring game reduced to 74 overs after a heavy downpour. Quick runs seemed to be the order of the day, but after a bright start by James Thompson and Jonny Burch, it was left to Awais Khan to shore up Pirbright’s innings against bowlers who exploited variable bounce and movement. When Khan fell for a well-compiled 44, the home side collapsed from 109-5 to 126 all out. Dom Johnson returned excellent figures of 7-35 in 11 overs and it was good to see young Charlie Neville bowling some effective leg-spin.

Aman Khan and Bailey Milton (8-5-8-2) made Headley struggle in turn. Charlie Neville looked comfortable against the quicker bowlers and and left-hander Bill Ray batted well before Puneet Saraswat and Burch reduced the visitors to 70-6. Headley dug deep, though, and the game looked to be heading for a draw.

Then Luke Brereton bowled Ray and an outstanding catch by Thompson left Headley 91-8 with one over left. Skipper Mike Hughes had looked solid, but was bowled by Burch’s second ball. With men clustered round the bat, Burch’s next ball, full and straight, hit the stumps and a jubilant Pirbright celebrated ten points. Burch’s figures: 7.3-3-8-3.

On a hard and dry Fernhurst wicket, Grayshott II made steady progress through Paul Scanlon and Simon Whitley (51). Then Richard Baker (43) and Matt Jackson accelerated until Tristan Rissik found his length and took 5-52. After a late scramble for runs, Grayshott closed on 207-9 from the full 48 overs.

Fernhurst came up against a pacy opening attack, but opener Mark Charman held firm with 59 until, for the second time in the game, the slower bowlers came to the fore.

Whitley and Mark Morris (5-31) seemed to have won the game for Grayshott, but Rissik (48 not out) and last man Paul Dowdell had other ideas and their valiant stand brought about a tense finish, with much hanging on the very last ball.

A dot ball left Fernhurst one run short of the winning draw after an excellent game played with great competitive spirit by both sides.

Hindhead elected to bowl first and it seemed a good decision as Matt Jeffs dismissed both the Shalford openers cheaply. But Adam White came in to play an outstanding innings, striking several clean sixes and taking the attack to all the bowlers. When he was dismissed (before drinks) by Lance Thorne for a magnificent 109, Shalford were 140-4 and despite regular wickets for Jeffs and Thorne, a quickfire 37 from David Rowe allowed Shalford to declare at 223-9 from 40 overs.

Hindhead struggled to 18-3 against the tight bowling of David Rowe (7-3-21-2) and captain David Shilcock (9-6-6-2). Jeffs (32) and Ali McGregor, and later Harry Stokes, put up some resistance, but Hindhead collapsed to the spin of Ravipati (4-28) and were all out for 108 in 38 overs.

Frensham II won an important toss and Harting, invited to bat, immediately lost key batsman Simon Kyte – caught by Nick Green off Dave Stone. Fenton Ramsahoye and Stone went on to claim four wickets apiece and Ramsahoye conceded a miserly 14 runs in his 13 overs. Opener Andy Wadey made a defiant 20, but Harting managed only 85 in 36 overs.

The visitors, helped on their way by a generous 34 extras, knocked off the runs in 21 overs, losing only one wicket. Peter Harrison made 28 not out.

The Bourne and Badshot Lea are both struggling to make their mark in this division. Bourne had the advantage of bowling first and collected eight handy points. Badshot Lea were going well while Ben Gray and Aryobi (36) were together, but then Mark Budd (4-25) and Matt Duncan (3-31) got amongst the wickets. Newcomer Ani Totapalli claimed two victims and the visitors were dismissed for 123 in 32 overs.

Skipper Rob Croucher and Totapalli gave Bourne a good start, but then came a mini collapse and Vermana Anne and Budd had to bat carefully to see their side to a four-wicket victory in the 27th over.