Will Crossley An efficient bowling performance and a Will Crossley match winning innings saw Sway return to form and record a comfortable seven-wicket win over fellow Southern League Division 3 promotion hopefuls S Wilts II, who arrived at Jubilee Fields with seven successive wins behind them - but left with elevation hopes dented.
The Bemerton outfit won the toss but little thereafter, dismissed for a modest 161 (Owain Phillips 27). Seamers Richard Thomas (4-27) and Hugh Bernard (3-35), with assistance of Sam Nailor, Jon Grasham and Steve How, who each claimed a wicket, prevented the visitors from setting up a meaningful partnership.
Stephen Riddle rattled up 31 before Crossley caught him, his second sharp effort in the slips. Skipper/keeper Alex Hall bagged four catches to raise his tally to 15 for the summer.
Opener Crossley, with partners Will Millard (34) and Greg Jones (24*) set about building the foundation South Wilts had so dearly lacked. The trio still managed to punish the loose delivery with 11, 7 and 5 boundaries respectively. Finally, Bernard was on hand to execute the coup de grace with a couple of typically lusty blows: Sway 162-3 with 10 overs to spare, third in the log five points behind Langley Manor, their final day opponents on September 3.
At the opposite end of SPL3, a 155-run opening stand between Syed Agha (78) and Ed Boyd (75*) paved the way for a crucial eight-wicket victory for Trojans over Basingstoke & North Hants II, a result which has plunged the Bountymen into desperate relegation difficulty.
Trojans had begun the day in the bottom two after an SPL imposed five-point deduction for a player registration infringement. Initially, things didn’t get any better with Laurence Benge (72) and Chris Froud (34) giving BNH a 72-run start. But Trojans broke through with spin, reducing the visitors to 129-6 an eventually 163 all out, Luke Dimmick taking 3-22, and Anish Joshi and Jamie Donaldson two wickets each.
The Bemerton outfit won the toss but little thereafter, dismissed for a modest 161 (Owain Phillips 27). Seamers Richard Thomas (4-27) and Hugh Bernard (3-35), with assistance of Sam Nailor, Jon Grasham and Steve How, who each claimed a wicket, prevented the visitors from setting up a meaningful partnership.
Stephen Riddle rattled up 31 before Crossley caught him, his second sharp effort in the slips. Skipper/keeper Alex Hall bagged four catches to raise his tally to 15 for the summer.
Opener Crossley, with partners Will Millard (34) and Greg Jones (24*) set about building the foundation South Wilts had so dearly lacked. The trio still managed to punish the loose delivery with 11, 7 and 5 boundaries respectively. Finally, Bernard was on hand to execute the coup de grace with a couple of typically lusty blows: Sway 162-3 with 10 overs to spare, third in the log five points behind Langley Manor, their final day opponents on September 3.
At the opposite end of SPL3, a 155-run opening stand between Syed Agha (78) and Ed Boyd (75*) paved the way for a crucial eight-wicket victory for Trojans over Basingstoke & North Hants II, a result which has plunged the Bountymen into desperate relegation difficulty.
Trojans had begun the day in the bottom two after an SPL imposed five-point deduction for a player registration infringement. Initially, things didn’t get any better with Laurence Benge (72) and Chris Froud (34) giving BNH a 72-run start. But Trojans broke through with spin, reducing the visitors to 129-6 an eventually 163 all out, Luke Dimmick taking 3-22, and Anish Joshi and Jamie Donaldson two wickets each.
