Cricket: Massive Middleton win keeps them top of the pile

Middleton were put in and, despite a wobble at 137 for seven, a captain’s innings by Brandon Hanley (69), Ben Hansford’s half-century and Patrick Colvin’s 31 helped the home side declare on 218.

Middleton made light work of Slinfold’s batting. Opening the bowling for the first time this year, Tommy Davies recorded a career-best six for 17 as he tore through the visitors with his consistency.

The haul is testament to Davies’s policy of ‘you miss, I hit’. He twice found himself on a hat-trick.

Middleton captain Hanley provided great support for Davies and chipped in with four for 28, but he found himself fighting for the limelight given Davies’ brilliance.

Hanley’s record and reputation go before him. Players and spectators expect a disciplined and menacing display with the ball, and he rarely fails to deliver.

This performance sends a message to other sides in the league and quells speculation that the league leaders are not capable of bowling sides out.

Pagham v Steyning

Div three west

A low-scoring encounter at Nyetimber Lane resulted in a 52-run win for Steyning.

Stuart Rutter inserted the opposition. An opening stand of 47 turned into a collapse and Steyning were 83 for eight after Wayne Green (5-47) and Michael Hales (2-37) wreaked havoc. Ed Lamb (31) guided Steyning to 144.

Pagham took to the crease confident of overhauling the target, but where Pagham had Green, Steyning had Matheesha Ranasinghe. The Sri Lankan professional took six for 37 from 19.3 overs and only Kejel Tyson (39) made progress against him.

While Tyson was batting the score moved on to 49 for one – but once he departed only 43 runs were added for the loss of the last eight wickets as Pagham’s batting frailties were ruthlessly exposed in a meagure total of 92.

Despite the disappointing effort, Pagham received ten points.