BINFIELD CC sent out an ominous statement of intent as they cruised past Sulhamstead by 73 runs in Division 4a on Saturday, writes Richard Ashton.

After Binfield were asked to bat by Sully captain Aaron Briggs, Wynand Lamprecht looked in fine form following his opening-day century as he raced to 15 from just eight balls before edging Doug Macdonald behind.

However, that was as good as it got for the away side, with Steve Carson (133 from 131 balls) and Chris Morgan (121no from 112) putting on a sensational 237-run partnership for the second wicket, their efforts ended when the former was caught by Jason Doole off the bowling of spinner Marc Thompson to leave Binfield 260-2.

There was no let-up, though, as Tom Andrews blasted a brace of maximums in a quickfire 35 not out from only 19 balls, leading the home side to a colossal 325-2 from just 45 overs.

Sulhamstead endured a nightmare start to their reply as Andrews bowled Doole for a duck fourth ball, and when Thompson was run out without troubling the scorers, Sully were reeling on 2-2.

Matt Hayman had Steve Belcher caught behind by Alistair Higginson before Tim Benham and Briggs added 62 for the fourth wicket.

However, three quick wickets – two for Jack Collett and one for Lamprecht – saw the away side crash from 88-3 to 101-6 and staring down the barrel of an almighty hiding.

However, Sulhamstead rallied with Jamie Seward (39 from 31), Sanjay Dove (60 off 54) and Matt Gill (43no from 28) making the most of a superb batting wicket to take their side to a creditable 252-8, albeit well short of the total posted by a Binfield team which has the early-season look of potential champions.

Binfield travel to Boyne Hill 2nds on Saturday.

In Division 2b, Royal Ascot edged to a dramatic one-wicket win off the final ball at home to Finchampstead 2nds.

Tommie Predgen (64) and Matt Eldridge (54) led Finches to a competitive 228-7 from their 50 overs, with Nick Wiggett (3-42) the pick of the Ascot attack.

Russell Lane (4-37) and Nick West (3-42) kept Finches competitive in the defence of their total, but useful knocks from Andy Murray (69), Jay Jayasingh (35) and a hefty 31 wides allowed Ascot to scrape home right at the death.

Royal Ascot travel to Beaconsfield on Saturday.

Hurst were without a fixture last weekend following Yateley’s departure from the division, but they return to action at High Wycombe 2nds this coming Saturday.

Royal Ascot 2nds slumped to a five-wicket defeat at Reading 2nds in Division 4a.

Ascot could only reach 165-8 in their 45 overs, and Khurram Mahmood’s unbeaten 88 fired his side to victory with 20 overs to spare.

Majid Sherif starred with bat and ball for Bracknell, but they were edged out by seven runs by Boyne Hill 3rds in Division 5b.

Sherif claimed 4-47 as the hosts were bowled out for 175, Umair Imran top scoring with an unbeaten 48.

In reply, Steve Abraham (4-28) and Leo Bangs starred with the ball as Bracknell were dismissed for 168, Sherif top scoring with 25.

Bracknell host Sonning 2nds this coming Saturday.

Hurst 2nds beat Cove 3rds by five wickets in a low-scoring Division 6b encounter.

Tim Everitt (3-12) led the way for the visitors as they rolled Cove for a mere 81, although it took a sensible knock of 28 not out from Tim Walder to guide them to victory having initially collapsed to 25-4.

Binfield 2nds (150) fell to a six-wicket defeat to Bradfield (152).

Paul Edgington top scored with 33 for the visitors, and despite Rupert Warren taking 2-31, they could not defend a sub-par total, Bradfield knocking the runs off in 30.2 overs.

Deep Mohain (100no) scored a brilliant unbeaten century for Royal Ascot 3rds (209-6), but they went down to a seven-wicket reverse as Fleet 2nds reached 212-3 with 33 balls to spare.

In Division 8a, superb spells from Chris White (3-4), Graham Thorne (3-11) and Chris Chandler (3-30) proved crucial as Bracknell 2nds beat Boyne Hill 4ths by four wickets.

The away side were dismissed for only 95, and opener Ashok Badana made 35 to break the back of the run chase before Bracknell got home in 26 overs. Owen Roberts was the standout performer for Boyne Hill, recording excellent figures of 5-22 from his seven overs.

Royal Ascot 4ths held their nerve to beat Datchet 4ths by one wicket in a thriller.

Satpal Madhan (2-35), Dan Bailey (2-45) and Naeem Mohammed (2-64) were among the wickets as Datchet were restricted to 210-7, and Richard Wyatt (50), Mark Wigget (38) and Madhan (33) put their side in control before last pair Oscar Keysell and captain Chris Thomason saw their side over the line.

Rana Ali was the pick of the Datchet attack, claiming figures of 5-37 from his nine overs.