A STUNNING hat-trick from Mortimer West End captain Nick Kingston inspired his side to a tense three-wicket Premier Division victory at Crowthorne & Crown Wood, writes Richard Ashton.
Kingston grabbed figures of 4-33 and Adam Telford chipped in with 3-30 as the Crows were bowled out for 136, and despite Christopher Emes taking 3-29 in reply, West End were able to reach 137-7 in 42.1 overs.
Shinfield moved back to the top of the table despite having the worst of their draw at Woodley.
Arshad Mohamed led the way for the hosts with a brilliant innings of 92, and despite Muhammed Hafeez taking 4-37, Woodley were able to post a competitive 204-9 from their 45 overs.
Opener Naveed Naseer top scored with 60 in the run chase, but man-of-the-match Mohamed (4-26) helped restrict Shinfield to 187-9.
BCS were knocked off the top after being stunned by nine wickets at home to Ibis Mapledurham.
Luke Whiley (3-21) was the pick of the visiting attack as BCS were routed for 130, and Tom Osborne's unbeaten 70 then ushered Ibis to 131-1 in 30.4 overs.
Woodcote remain very much in the thick of the title race despite having to settle for a winning draw at home to Welford Park.
Ryan Lennard (103) made his maiden Woodcote century as the hosts racked up an imposing 274-7, the opener sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 129 with Ryan van Heerden (57).
Nick Ashton was the stand-out bowler with 4-48.
The Welford reply never really got going, but they were able to hold on for the draw on 201-8, Pete Roberts grabbing figures of 3-22.
Shashank Agrawal struck a magnificent 148 and Chris Butcher added 80 to help bottom side Stratfield Turgis (255-3) have the better of their draw at fellow strugglers Goring.
Chris Walsh top scored with 77 in the run chase, but Vignesh Vaidyanathan's 3-12 helped scupper any hopes of a Goring victory as they could only reach 214-7.
Division One leaders Sandhurst (253-9) eased past Warfield (136) by 117 runs.
Second-placed Peppard Stoke Row 2nds won a classic by one run at home to Woodley 2nds.
Matt Vines (69no) and Andy Watts (53) led the way for the hosts as they posted 220-5 in their 45 overs, only for Aneel Sabir (63) to keep the visitors in the game.
However, with just two needed for victory, a leading edge from Wasim Jamadar was caught by Vines off the bowling of the league's all-time top wicket-taker Roy Hayden, leaving Woodley heartbroken and all out for 219.
Promotion-chasing Twyford & Ruscombe (116-2) eased past Crowthorne & Crown Wood 2nds (114) by eight wickets, while a stunning 112 not out from Farley Hill (215-1) captain Michael Sheridan, aided by 64 from fellow opener Ali Jalil, ensured their side recorded a nine-wicket triumph against basement side Waltham St Lawrence (212-8).
Saqib Gulfraz snared 4-34 to inspire West Reading 2nds (121-6) to a four-wicket success at Shinfield 2nds (118).
Division Two table-toppers West Reading 3rds were gifted 35 points as strugging Mortimer West End 2nds were unable to raise a side, with Sulhamstead suffering the same fate against Knowl Hill.
Second-placed Earley crushed Peppard Stoke Row 3rds by 162 runs, openers Rob Casey (98( and Vinod Aduri (95) smashing their side to 241-3 in 36 overs before the declaration arrived.
The PSR reply never got going and they were bowled out for just 79, Steve Mapes the pick of the attack with 5-24.
Welford Park 2nds eased their relegation fears with a dramatic three-wicket home win against Wokingham 6ths.
Chinmay Kulkarni (73) and Shiv Munniyappa (66) led the Oaks to a respectable 213-7, but an outstanding unbeaten 87 from Manu Chadha enabled the hosts to reach 215-7 with 14 balls to spare.
Vinoth Palanisamy made a vital 51 not out to steer Reading Lions (137-8) to a tense two-wicket victory against Checkendon 2nds (133).
Rob Coupar struck an unbeaten 56 as runaway Division Three leaders Mortimer (109-3) crushed Crowthorne & Crown Wood 3rds (107-8) by seven wickets.
Zain Raja blasted a remarkable 13 sixes during his mammoth 147 not out, but West Reading 4ths had to settle for the better of their draw at Falkland Development.
Harris Mushtaq also added 75 not out as Wests blasted 344-3, the pair sharing an unbroken stand of 194 for the fourth wicket.
Falkland showed impressive fight in light of chasing such an imposing score, and with Jan Kriel (88) and James Daly (63) both making half centuries, they were able to reach safety on 224-5.
Calvin Hall took 4-6 and Sohail Abbas struck 54 as second-placed Sandhurst 2nds (83-2) battered Binfield 4ths (82) by eight wickets.
Earley 2nds (99-3) remain in the promotion race after a crushing seven-wicket win at Purley on Thames 3rds (96).
Shinfield 3rds pulled off a tremendous run chase to beat Stratfield Turgis 2nds by three wickets.
Sridhar Sekaran (54no) and Lakshmanarasu Thangarasu (50) led the hosts to a competitive 243-7, Vivek Sharma the pick of the Shinfield attack with 4-27.
The target was not enough, however, with opener Emil Reisser-Weston making 74 before Habib Pataan's run-a-ball 48 not out saw his side over the line with 14 balls to spare.
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