WARFIELD kept their Division Two promotion hopes alive with a convincing six-wicket victory at home to relegated Purley on Thames 3rds, writes Richard Ashton.

Takunda Pswarayi (3-30) was the stand-out performer with the ball for the hosts as they dismissed the Potters for 146, and David Wilson then blasted 71 from just 53 balls as Warfield reached their target in 25.5 overs.

Shinfield 2nds sealed promotion and can wrap up the title this week after hammering Wokingham 6ths by 153 runs.

Naqash Tahir smashed 134 not out from 121 balls and Arun Kumar added an unbeaten 54 from 41 as the visitors racked up 282-5, and Kiran Alluri (4-26) then ran through the top order as the Oaks were kept to 159-9.

Sulhamstead 3rds had the better of Peppard Stoke Row 3rds by 36 runs as Madhur Sharma’s wonderful 130 led them to victory.

Babu Longanathan added 69 as the visitors totalled 240-6 in their 40 overs, Under 15 Owen Simmons the pick of the attack with 4-35.

The majority of the PSR line-up made starts, but aside from Nick Windsor (52) they failed to kick on, and eventually could only get to 204-9 in reply.

The game between West Reading 3rds and Welford Park 2nds was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to concerns about the safety of the outfield.

Premier Division champions Checkendon show no sign of letting up as they beat Woodley by 60 runs.

Ujwal Tikoo (83) and Matt Heslop (60) led the way for Checks in their total of 219-9, Rizmy Nilamdeen (3-37) and Arshad Mohamed (3-50) impressing with the ball.

The Woodley reply never really got going, and with Ninad Rahatekar (5-48) and skipper Vikas Chib (3-26) then working their way through the middle order, the hosts were dismissed for 159.

Rehan Akram (68 from 42 balls and 3-55) starred with bat and ball as BCS (219) eased past Goring (159) by 83 runs.

Ibis Mapledurham gave their survival hopes a boost with a six-wicket win against fellow strugglers Woodcote.

Mark Pearson (53) top scored for the visitors as they posted a competitive 195-8, Errol Masters the pick of the attack with 3-46, but Ibis chased the score down with an over to spare.

Ankit Singh – who came back after retiring hurt to end on an unbeaten 66 – and Dave Drury (57no) were the home side’s heroes, while Paul Knox took 4-37 for Cote.

Sandhurst dropped to second bottom after a 30-run defeat at home to basement boys Farley Hill.

Ali Jalil made 49 as the visitors were kept to 162-9 thanks to some fine bowling by Calvin Hall (3-28) and Ed Batchelor (3-23), but that proved enough when the Camels were dismissed for 132.

Adam Battison (46) provided the most resistance, but Michael Sheridan (3-11) and Tom Hale (3-40) helped Farley Hill to victory.

In Division One, Twyford & Ruscombe kept their promotion dream alive with a nail-biting one-wicket win at their nearest rivals Stratfield Turgis.

Andy Brown (88) and Abishek Singh (63) helped second-placed Stratfield to 224-9, Shiva Nagam grabbing 3-28.

Nagam then top scored with a quickfire 57, but Laurie Figzal (3-55) put Stratfield in control as they reduced the visitors to 178-8.

However, despite needing to add 12 runs for the final wicket, Ashish Darekar (31no) held his nerve to keep Twyford in the hunt for a top-two finish.

Shahid Imtiaz took 4-21 before Gary Shacklady struck an unbeaten 60 to help Earley (107-3) maintain their survival bid with a seven-wicket victory against West Reading 2nds (102).

Captain Olly Nicholson blasted five sixes in a stunning 92 from only 61 balls as Peppard Stoke Row 2nds crushed Crowthorne & Crown Wood 2nds by 176 runs.

Chris Proudfoot added an unbeaten 40 in PSR’s total on 257-6, and Ian Jackson then took 6-48 as the Crows were skittled for a mere 81.

Hawley and Waltham St Lawrence conceded their games against Woodley 2nds and champions Shinfield respectively.

Binfield 3rds overcame a couple of tricky situations before sealing a 49-run win against Mortimer to keep themselves in the Division Three promotion race.

The hosts slipped to 45-6, only for Lewis Hall’s excellent unbeaten 56 to help Binfield reach 162 as Jimmy George (4-40) proved the destroyer-in-chief.

Mortimer looked on top as they reached 75-2, but they then lost their remaining wickets for only 33 more runs to crash to 113 all out in the face of a fine spell from Steve Andrews (6-29).

West Reading 4ths stayed second despite losing by two wickets at home to Crowthorne & Crown Wood 3rds.

Hassan Arif made 87 out of Wests’ total of 187, with John Cartledge (5-65) the pick of the attack.

Abdul Hafeez (4-41) gave West Reading hope of bowling their opponents out, but a fine innings of 56 not from Venkata Adapa steered the Crows to victory with two balls to spare.

Ali Khan took tremendous figures of 4-8 from six overs to inspire Earley 2nds to a six wicket victory at Shinfield 3rds.

The home side were bowled out for 116, and Earley raced to victory in only 20.3 overs.