Thames Valley round-up: Marlow replaced at the top after seven wicket defeat at Tring Park

Phil Lines

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Marlow's hopes of back-to-back promotions suffered a setback on Saturday as Phil Lines side were beaten by seven wickets at Tring Park.

Marlow headed into Saturday's fixture 15 points clear of their closest rivals at the top of Thames Valley League Division 1, having won five of their opening six matches, however, they were on the receiving end of only their second league defeat with Tring moving up to fourth as a result.

Having been put into bat, Marlow struggled to post a competitive score, with the usually reliable Jonathan Pears managing just two runs and their overseas Harvey Brennan scoring 30.

Surprisingly, given their form with the bat this season, Brennan's was their best knock on a day to forget, as Tom Weymes took 5-40 to leave the visitors all out for 130 runs.

In reply, Tring Park chased their total with few scares. Opener Ben Jacobs top scored with 59 and Andrew Dixon (30no) and Mark Ludlow (24no) saw the side home to 134 for the loss of three wickets in 253 overs.

Falkland skip above Marlow to lead the division by five points after their six-wicket success over Eversley.

Elsewhere in Division 1, Cookham Dean's hopes of a third straight win were quashed as they were beaten at home by five wickets by Ickenham.

The hosts were buoyed by the return from holiday of skipper Greg Davis, but he was powerless to prevent defeat as the visitors chased down their hosts total of 159-all out in 43.1 overs.

After Adam Ali fell for 16, and Jamie Odell fell for a two-ball duck, Dean managed to steady the ship through Sohil Mangat (27) and top scored Zain Khan (64no). However, while Khan dug in to anchor his side's innings, wickets tumbled around him as the hosts capitulated from 95-4 to 159 all out. Bayley Hall finished with 4-40 for Ickenham. In reply, the best partnership came from Jash Gandhi (57) and Luke O'Driscoll as the visitors eased to their total with wickets and overs in hand. The result sees Dean slip to eighth in the table, but they have a handy 41-point buffer on ninth placed Eversley.

The top half of the table remains congested with just 34 points separating Dean in eighth from the leaders Falkland.

Fifth placed Boyne Hill didn't do their promotion hopes much good as they were held to a draw by Reading at home.

Having been put into bat, Ziya Mohamed's side were able to declare on 273-6 after 48 overs. Tharushan Iddamalgoda smashed a brilliant century 101 from 78 balls and there was ample support from the likes of Sajid Ali (50) and James Hammerton (30) and Sikandar Rizwan (36). However, while their visitors couldn’t chase, their batsmen did prove incredibly difficult to dislodge. Only two wickets fell in 52 overs as they made it to 228-2. The unshakable Firaz Amjad (64no) and Praful Waghela (84no) frustrated the Boyne Hill bowling attack whose best figures went to Armaan Alam (1-30). The 11 points sees them in fifth place, only 25 points off the top heading into Saturday's game at Tring Park. Cookham visit Beaconsfield while Marlow host Falkland in a game that could yet have huge consequences in this summer's title race.

In Division 2A, Windsor beat Chesham by seven wickets at Home Park to revive their promotion hopes. Having elected to field on winning the toss, they bowled out Chesham for an under par 104 in 27.3 overs. Charlie Jackson (3-20) and Kai Ziemkendorf (3-4) led the way, taking six wickets between them as Chesham collapsed to 46-9 before staging a partial recovery. It was never likely to be enough, though, as the hosts eased to a three-wicket victory in 22.4 overs, with opener Yuraj Sanga making 42no and captain Zac Campbell adding 28. The result lifts Windsor to sixth, now only 33 points behind leaders High Wycombe 2nds, who were surprisingly beaten by struggling Wraysbury.

Having elected to bat, hosts Wraysbury put on 188 before being dismissed in the 45th over. Their best knocks came from Osama Alam (41) and Akash Pandey (36). But it was their fine bowling display which saw them claim this unexpected but very much welcome victory. Mehtab Malik took 5-35 as Wycombe were bowled out for 170 in 52.2 overs, the visitors coming up just 18 runs short. The result keeps them eight points above bottom placed Stoke Green 2nds who were also winners by 50 runs over Kew.

Burnham are back in touch with leaders Sonning after Adnan Shabbir's men claimed a three wicket win at Sulhamstead & Ufton at the weekend.

Having won the toss, the home side made 166 from their 45.3 overs, with Marc Thompson finishing unbeaten at the end on 40. Harakmal Singh took 3-42 with the ball, before Burnham blasted their way to victory with the bat. After an uncertain start, the middle order got the job done, with Muhammad Ammar Arshad (37), Imran Butt (28), Silva (48) and Shabbir (36) doing most of the leg work.

In contrast, leaders Sonning lost by two wickets to Wokingham and now lead the division by just a point from Burnham. Burnham host Aldershot on Saturday while Sonning host Sulhamstead & Ufton.

In Division 3B, Maidenhead & Bray are doing their best to stay with the leaders after they beat Wooburn Narkovians by 138 runs on Saturday.

Having been put into bat, Bray managed 287-4 declared from their 42 overs before skittling Wooburn for 149 in 38.3 overs.

Maidenhead & Bray are seven points behind second placed Bushy Park and 36 behind leaders Amersham ahead of their game at Hillingdon Manor on Saturday.