Six of the best for Portsmouth & Southsea’s Jake Peach as Purbrook claim unwanted Southern Premier League record

In order to avoid losing every single Division 3 fixture this season, Purbrook had to claim a shock victory at champions Portsmouth & Southsea.

They never remotely looked like doing that as Peach tore through their top order at St James’.

The opening bowler bagged the first six wickets as Purbrook crashed to 34-6.

At 48-9, the visitors were on course to record their lowest team total across all four divisions of the SPL this year.

But a 14-run stand for the last wicket - the highest of the innings - saw Purbrook reach 62 before the final wicket fell.

Last man Alan Mengham, who cracked three boundaries off six balls in making 12, was the only batter on his side to reach double figures.

Peach finished with 6-18 - the fourth best figures in Division 3 in 2022. But they weren’t his best of a sun-drenched summer - that was a 7-17 haul when Basingstoke & North Hants 2nds, relegated alongside Purbrook, were shot out for 57 in early June.

Matt Benfield (28 not out) and Jack Davies (14 not out) helped P & S stroll to a nine-wicket win in the ninth over.

It was their 16th win in 18 fixtures and ensured they finished with an average points per game total of 19.00 - the best across all four SPL tiers.

Davies, with 742 runs, finished as the division’s leading runscorer while P & S captain Ben Saunders, with 44, was the section’s top wicket-taker.

P & S left-arm spinner Kieron Dunstan was the fourth highest, with 32 victims, while Peach (30) was seventh in the divisional list.

In the final reckoning, P & S enjoyed a 69-point advantage over South Wilts 2nds - the top two going up. And Purbrook were 115 points adrift of third-bottom Trojans, with the bottom two playing in the Hampshire League in 2023.

Purbrook finished with 71 points in total, compared to the 85 bowling points P & S amassed over the course of a memorable campaign.

Last-wicket pair of Muhammad Ali and Conor Regan gave Gosport Borough a tense victory over Trojans at Privett Park.

Asked to chase 136 for victory, Gosport’s ninth wicket fell with the score on 106. But last man Regan (14 not out) helped No 10 Ali (16 not out) in seeing Boro home.

Craig Stares, batting at No 7, top scored with 19 as the hosts recovered from 62-6 to win.

Jacob Harris (3-32) and Sampath Prathapasinghe (3-44) had helped reduce Trojans to 135 all out (Ed Boyd 45).

There were some fine bowling figures recorded when Havant 2nds lost to Basingstoke & North Hants 2nds by 28 runs at May’s Bounty.

First, Havant pair Steven Matthews (4-19) and Ali Gardner (4-30) impressed as the hosts were bowled out for 152 (Mandeep Sharma 52).

Craig Chandler then bagged 5-31 - removing the Havant top five in the process - as the visitors crashed to 35-6.

Helped by a last wicket stand of 38 between Pete Hayward (17 not out) and Gardner (16), Havant were eventually bowled out for 124.