Kerala skipper Dawn Ambi up to second in Hampshire League wicket-takers list – Locks Heath and Sarisbury 2nds also triumph – Division 3 South round-up

The skipper bagged 4-25 off nine overs - including 12 wides - in a tight victory over Portsea Island rivals Portsmouth & Southsea 2nds at St James.

Ambi took his seasonal league tally to 33 victims as P & S, chasing Kerala’s 150 all out, crashed from 75-2 to finish 11 runs short.

Ambi has already doubled his 2021 league wickets haul, having taken 16 last year - including 5-10 against Portsmouth Community on his sole 3rd XI outing in Division 6 South East.

Only Redlynch & Hale’s George Hayes, with 34 County Division 2 wickets, has taken more than Ambi across the entire Hampshire League structure in 2022.

Kerala gave P & S a large helping hand before claiming a seventh straight win - conceding 30 wides in a total of 36 extras.

Top score with the bat was Alex Davidson’s 20. It was his dismissal, trapped leg before by Thomas George (22), that sparked a collapse - 75-2 quickly becoming 106-8.

Kerala had also seen wickets clatter after they had been inserted.

Opener Presh Prasad’s 58 helped them reach 147-5, whereby they lost their last five wickets for just three runs.

Rory Simpson, the sixth and final bowler used by P & S, sent down just 10 balls but claimed an eye-catching 4-3.

Due to picking up only 21 points, Kerala are now five adrift of Locks Heath in the race for the second promotion slot with five games remaining. Calmore Sports 2nds appear a shoe-in for the title, having won all 12 matches so far.

Kerala’s sole loss came against Locks in early June, while Locks’ only defeat arrived against Calmore. No team, therefore, has beaten any of the top three from outside the top three.

Locks’ batting strength has been a feature of their successes so far, and that was again the case in a win against Totton & Eling 2nds.

Skipper Andrew Booth (50), Joe Baker (47), Adam Brown (45) and Joe Acaster (43) all contributed to a total of 280-7 after Booth had elected to bat at Southern Gardens.

Those runs kept Baker in with a chance of finishing as the Hampshire League’s leading runscorer. With 835 runs to his name, he is currently third in a list headed by Suttoners’ Craig Dennett (940). Calmore 2nds skipper Matt Taylor (854) is second.

Totton responded with 206 all out, with captain Dan Collier top scoring with 66 down at No 7 before he was dismissed by Dillon Coe (3-31).

Matt Journeaux was among the runs and wickets as Sarisbury 2nds remained fourth with a six-wicket victory over Sway 2nds.

The all-rounder was a central figure in Sarisbury’s rise to the top flight of the Southern Premier League, where they spent a season in 2015.

Having not played at all in 2020 and 2021, Journeaux has recently made a comeback and his appearance against Sway was his third of the year.

He claimed 2-10 in 13 balls, taking the last two wickets as Sway, having elected to bat first at Allotment Road, were rushed out for 109 (Tom Kitcher 3-11).

Batting at No 3, Journeaux then cracked 10 boundaries in a 30-ball 45 as Sarisbury raced to victory in the 14th over. Chris Sanders ended unbeaten on 27 off 19 deliveries.

Fareham & Crofton 2nds are 33 points adrift in the three-team relegation zone after a 22-run loss to Gosport Borough 2nds.

Chasing 187 for victory, Jon Tucker - batting at No 6 - top scored with 43 as F & C could only manage 164 (Srinath Nugegoda (3-27).

Captain Gavin King (51) and Tom Larmer (40) had shared a 76-run stand for the fourth wicket as Gosport, who elected to bat, posted 186 (James Hawley 4-36).

Calmore 2nds skipper Taylor entered his side’s game against Bashley 3rds aiming for a fourth successive HL century.

But after scores of 112, 163 not out and 109 not out, he could ‘only’ manage 60 in Calmore’s 72-run win that kept them 22 points clear at the top of the table.