Horsham CC have title belief - but Roffey are still top

At the Nevill Sports Ground, Horsham bowled out Brighton for 243, just three balls short of their 50-over allocation, and then timed their run chase to perfection, to win by three wickets from the last available ball of the match.

The 30-point win enabled Horsham to leapfrog beaten East Grinstead back into second, albeit by a single point, with Roffey 23 points clear at the top.

Oxley said: “It was easier batting first, but after having them 151-6 we should have kept them to under 200.

"It should never really have been that close – we had a bit of a wobble with the bat, and lost some cheap wickets, but Sam Bell saw us home again and we’re still very much in contention.

"We really believe that we could win the league, and we’re definitely going to give it our best shot.”

Brighton put on a 56-run opening partnership, then lost wickets at regular intervals, with Oxley taking 4-36, but 50s from Sam Topping and, at No8, Frankie Cripps, together with 41 from James Degg and 32 extras enabled Brighton to set a challenging target, despite two wickets apiece for Nick Cooper and Ben Lister.

Although Horsham lost an early wicket, at 75-1 they were well-placed, Elliot Cloy scoring 35, paving the way for 40s from Will Beer and Oxley and another 50 – containing eight fours – from teenager Ollie Haines.

But progress was restricted, raising the scoring rate as Brighton kept chipping away, with three wickets for Cripps, and two for Stephen Rigg.

It finally came down to 18 runs being required from the last two overs, with wicketkeeper Bell and Cooper batting.

Eleven came from the penultimate over, and when Bell hit Will Sheffield for four off the first of the last six balls, Horsham could do it in singles, the scores becoming level with two balls left.

Nothing came from the fifth ball, but ice cool Bell scored the winning run from the final ball.

On Saturday, Horsham entertain fourth-placed Bognor.

Roffey stayed top of the Sussex Premier League – by 23 points – after beating Middleton.

The visitors were bowled out for 174, Roffey securing the earliest premier division win of the day, by four wickets with 17.3 overs to spare.

But it was not entirely plain sailing, Roffey Captain Matt Davies telling the County Times: “Their leg spinner (Ajit Sambhi) bowled well and took wickets with good balls, but there one or two soft dismissals, so we made it hard for ourselves.

"It was a good result in the end, but nothing has really changed – we’ve probably got to win all of our last three games, including against reigning champions Preston Nomads and front runners East Grinstead – tough matches.”

Electing to bat, Middleton got off to a flyer, posting 82 for the loss of one wicket by the end of the ninth over, but, when Jas Bassan and Harnoop Kalsi came on to bowl, the picture changed dramatically.

Middleton slumped to 128-6, with, crucially, dangerous opposition skipper Sean Heather, fellow opener Harry Hovey (for the top score of the match - 64) and Mahesh Rawat all back in the pavilion.

After a minor recovery, the last four wickets fell cheaply with Bassan finishing with 5-21 and Kalsi 3-41, bowling more than half of the overs between them.

In reply, Roffey were well-placed at 72-2, but Sambhi had other ideas, taking 5-22 from his 10-over allowance, all of his wickets coming in his first five overs, reducing Roffey to 111-6.

With 64 still needed, alarm bells rang. But, there is no better No6 in the league than Rohit Jagota, and in company with all rounder Bassan, the runs were knocked off without further loss, Jagota finishing on 41 and Bassan 23.

Davies said: “Once Sambhi had bowled out it was a different game, and after taking another 5 wickets Jas supported Rohit really well with the bat – Jas has had an exceptional last few weeks and is enjoying his cricket with us”.

Bassan has now taken 43 league wickets, including 26 in the last six weeks, with eight against Brighton, six at Eastbourne and five versus Three Bridges.

He told us: “I’ve been working really hard on my fitness, and when things are going well it builds confidence – and batting with Rohit really helped me to make sure we won, overs weren’t an issue, it was just a case of seeing off Sambhi.”

On Saturday, Roffey travel to Fulking to take on Preston Nomads.

Meanwhile, despite notching up an elusive win,Hastings remain bottom with 173 points.

West Chiltington v Lindfield - Division 2

West Chilts are just 22 points behind leaders Cuckfield after a massive win at home to Lindfield.

Morne Louw scored 119 and fellow opener Louis Storey 109 as Chilts racked up 337-6 before the visitors were bowled out for 103, Ben Lucking and Charlie Davies each taking 3-24. They visit St Peter’s this weekend.

Gullick Cup

Nuthurst were victorious in the final of the Gullick Cup – one of the long-standing local annual T20 format competitions – on the sun-baked main square at Horsham.

Nuthurst CC (victorious in 1977 and 2014) were up against last year’s winners and pre-tournament favourites Crawley Eagles. The healthy crowd were treated to a keenly contested, sporting, high scoring game.

Nuthurst elected to bat and despite a very early run-out, proceeded to enjoy the freedom of the wide open and lightning fast outfield, and moved the scoreboard along at a brisk rate.

Nuthurst finished on a challenging 175-6 wickets. Notable performances were from skipper Raggy Singh (50 retired), Naveed-ur-Rehman (43) and Gwyllim Jones (41).

Crawley had won their semi final with a total of 185, so it was no surprise they got off to a very fast start – scoring 33 off the first three overs without loss.

But with well-controlled bowling and some do-or-die fielding, Nuthurst kept Crawley to the required run rate by the middle overs. The turning point came when hard-hitting opener Zakeer retired on 50 and a wicket fell shortly afterwards, and Crawley were chasing the rate against a pumped-up Nuthurst attack.

The result was almost cemented when the penultimate over bowled by Singh yielded only three when 22 were required. James Simpson bowled the last over and Crawley finished 11 short of the target. Nuthurst were delighted to win – a small club with a big heart. The trophy will take pride of place in the clubhouse.