Portsmouth bowlers impress as leaders St Cross suffer first Southern Premier League East group loss
Portsmouth inflicted a first loss of the season on Southern Premier League Premier/Division 1 East group leaders St Cross 2nds at St Helens Field.
The hosts reduced their Winchester-based visitors to 38-7 en route to bowling them out for 104.
Portsmouth skipper James Christian then calmed the nerves - after early wickets had fallen - by guiding his side to a five-wicket victory.
But St Cross will still top the East group if they can score a maximum-points win against Rowledge in their final game next weekend.
St Cross had fielded Hampshire pair Felix Organ and Harry Came in the previous week’s triumph against Alton.
But neither played against Portsmouth due to the county’s final Bob Willis Trophy game at Kent, while Ed Ellis was absent with hockey commitments.
Ex-Hampshire batsman Jason Laney opened the innings, though, after St Cross elected to bat first.
It was a short visit to the crease as he was bowled by Joseph Kooner-Evans for a six-ball duck.
Kooner-Evans then dismissed No 3 Chris Whelan (1) in identical fashion to make it 4-2.
Steve Hirst and Harry Foyle took the score to 31 before Portsmouth bagged five more wickets for the addition of only seven runs.
Foyle was leg before to Harrison Webb and Ben Gould was caught by Christian off the bowling of Henry Woolf.
Three more wickets tumbled with the score on 38 - Dan Wallis accounting for Hirst and Dylan Clarke with Rob Hadfield adjudged leg before to Andy Marston.
No 10 Charlie Bowden staved off even more embarrassment, after St Cross had dived to 51-8, by adding 37 for the ninth wicket with David Orchard.
Webb (2-11) and Kooner-Evans (2-17) impressed in their eight-over spells as St Cross were dismissed for 104 in 39 overs.
Marston only conceded 1-5 off his eight overs, including five maidens, while Woolf (2-19 off seven overs) and Wallis (2-39 off seven) were also on the wickets.
Portsmouth certainly didn’t have things all their own way when they replied.
Opener Jack Marston was bowled for duck and fellow top order batsmen Tom Wallis (10), Dan Wallis (1) and Will Smitherman (2) also fell cheaply.
Portsmouth were struggling on 44-5 when Woolf walked out to join his captain in the middle.
But they added an unbroken 61 for the sixth wicket with Christian 30 not out and Woolf 25 not out.
Portsmouth have now won three successive SPL games and will be confident of making it four at rock bottom Sparsholt next weekend.
Sparsholt have lost all six games they have played so far.