Run happy Ed Boyd carried his bat for an undefeated 114 as Trojans narrowly and successfully contained a determined Sparsholt chase in a Southern Premier League Division 2 thriller at Stoneham Lane.
Trojans just clung on as Sparsholt finished six runs short at 257-9 in a valiant bid to chase down 263-8.
Calmore Sports’ loss at Tichborne Park gives Trojans the only unbeaten tag in SPL2, which they lead by 12 points from the Alresford club.
Boyd has barely put a foot wrong all season, scoring three fifties before notching his third Premier League century against Sparsholt.
He hit 14 boundaries in his three-hour vigil at the crease, sharing a 104-run start with Abdul Manjra (44) before losing a succession of partners as Jeremy Frith (3-32) and Dave Gough (3-60) created in roads.
At 186-6, Trojans were in grave danger of wasting their excellent start, but a timely 27 from Jamie Donaldson and useful support from Jordan Wright enabled centurion captain Boyd to guide the total to 263-8.
Stuart Tognarelli (51) and Richard Kenway (30) provided Sparsholt with a 76-run response, but the fall of four quick wickets saw the visitors dip to 117-4 at the 25-over midpoint of their reply.
Dave Gough (25) and Jeremy Frith (48) added 51, but just as it seemed the match was tilting in Sparsholt’s favour Gough holed out.
Kyle Ruffell (19) then joined Frith to take the score above 200, but again wickets fell at key times as the required run rate increased.
Manjra, ironically an ex Sparsholt player, took 4-33 as the match reached an exciting finale, with Sparsholt requiring 13 to make off his final over. They didn’t quite make it …
Calmore Sports surrendered their unbeaten SPL2 start when they lost their last five wickets for 21 runs chasing down Tichborne Park’s 232-9.
Having reached an uncertain 127-5 (Ben Johns 35), Calmore’s innings was rebooted when Ben Perry (36) and James Rose (32) came together.
But, having added a vital 52, the pair were dismissed by the Allam brothers within six runs of each other, leaving the Calmore tail exposed and the visitors eventually 200 all out.
Tichborne’s 32-run win, which has lifted the Alresford club into second place eight points adrift of Trojans, came after a jittery start with two early wickets lost.
Queenslander Justin Reid (65) glued things together and, with Martin Cheyney (48) and the Allam brothers, Will (41) and Tom (30) alongside, saw a competitive 232-9 posted.
Bashley (Rydal) seconds crashed to a team low 42 all out against rejuvenated Fawley, who celebrated a second consecutive victory by 96 runs at the BCG.
Only fit-again Simon Ridley (15) made double figures as first Richard Taunton College student Ali Bryers (3-8) and wily off-spinner Wayne Smith, with five wickets for only four runs, ripped through the fragile Bashley batting.
Earlier, Dave Streather (33 and Andy Parratt (21) had top scored in Fawley’s modest 138-8, the evergreen Neil Taylor taking 4-13.
Tony Richman led the way with a boundary strewn 89 not out as Paultons recovered from 104-6 (Scott Hills 46) to successfully chase down Hartley Wintney’s 243-8 at Whitemoor Lane.
The Paultons captain and key all-rounder smashed three sixes and 12 fours and, with support from Simon Jenner (40), romped an unbroken 140 stand as the hosts got home without further loss with three overs to spare.
Earlier, Scott Baldwin set the scene for some big hitting with seven maximums and nine fours in a 95-ball 111 – a policy which Will Ross (26) and James Beckwith (30) pursued.
But 243-8 wasn’t sufficient as Hartley Wintney suffered a fourth straight Premier Division 2 defeat and lie bottom of the log, 28 points adrift of the nearest safety rung.
Trojans just clung on as Sparsholt finished six runs short at 257-9 in a valiant bid to chase down 263-8.
Calmore Sports’ loss at Tichborne Park gives Trojans the only unbeaten tag in SPL2, which they lead by 12 points from the Alresford club.
Boyd has barely put a foot wrong all season, scoring three fifties before notching his third Premier League century against Sparsholt.
He hit 14 boundaries in his three-hour vigil at the crease, sharing a 104-run start with Abdul Manjra (44) before losing a succession of partners as Jeremy Frith (3-32) and Dave Gough (3-60) created in roads.
At 186-6, Trojans were in grave danger of wasting their excellent start, but a timely 27 from Jamie Donaldson and useful support from Jordan Wright enabled centurion captain Boyd to guide the total to 263-8.
Stuart Tognarelli (51) and Richard Kenway (30) provided Sparsholt with a 76-run response, but the fall of four quick wickets saw the visitors dip to 117-4 at the 25-over midpoint of their reply.
Dave Gough (25) and Jeremy Frith (48) added 51, but just as it seemed the match was tilting in Sparsholt’s favour Gough holed out.
Kyle Ruffell (19) then joined Frith to take the score above 200, but again wickets fell at key times as the required run rate increased.
Manjra, ironically an ex Sparsholt player, took 4-33 as the match reached an exciting finale, with Sparsholt requiring 13 to make off his final over. They didn’t quite make it …
Calmore Sports surrendered their unbeaten SPL2 start when they lost their last five wickets for 21 runs chasing down Tichborne Park’s 232-9.
Having reached an uncertain 127-5 (Ben Johns 35), Calmore’s innings was rebooted when Ben Perry (36) and James Rose (32) came together.
But, having added a vital 52, the pair were dismissed by the Allam brothers within six runs of each other, leaving the Calmore tail exposed and the visitors eventually 200 all out.
Tichborne’s 32-run win, which has lifted the Alresford club into second place eight points adrift of Trojans, came after a jittery start with two early wickets lost.
Queenslander Justin Reid (65) glued things together and, with Martin Cheyney (48) and the Allam brothers, Will (41) and Tom (30) alongside, saw a competitive 232-9 posted.
Bashley (Rydal) seconds crashed to a team low 42 all out against rejuvenated Fawley, who celebrated a second consecutive victory by 96 runs at the BCG.
Only fit-again Simon Ridley (15) made double figures as first Richard Taunton College student Ali Bryers (3-8) and wily off-spinner Wayne Smith, with five wickets for only four runs, ripped through the fragile Bashley batting.
Earlier, Dave Streather (33 and Andy Parratt (21) had top scored in Fawley’s modest 138-8, the evergreen Neil Taylor taking 4-13.
Tony Richman led the way with a boundary strewn 89 not out as Paultons recovered from 104-6 (Scott Hills 46) to successfully chase down Hartley Wintney’s 243-8 at Whitemoor Lane.
The Paultons captain and key all-rounder smashed three sixes and 12 fours and, with support from Simon Jenner (40), romped an unbroken 140 stand as the hosts got home without further loss with three overs to spare.
Earlier, Scott Baldwin set the scene for some big hitting with seven maximums and nine fours in a 95-ball 111 – a policy which Will Ross (26) and James Beckwith (30) pursued.
But 243-8 wasn’t sufficient as Hartley Wintney suffered a fourth straight Premier Division 2 defeat and lie bottom of the log, 28 points adrift of the nearest safety rung.