Portsmouth have chance to challenge title chasers

The home side are in fine fettle having won their last five matches.

They are in excellent form and have key men available for the contest with the team who are looking to lift the top prize.

Skipper Marston also has the luxury of being able to field one of his strongest sides.

Portsmouth feel they might be able to make home advantage count in their favour when they take on the big guns.

He said: '˜Ben Duggan, Vikram Dawson and Fraser Hay are all available.

'˜This probably gives us our strongest line-up of the summer.

'˜Calmore are going well but are not usually so strong away from home.

'Hopefully with our long batting line-up on a good wicket we can hit them off their game.

'We had another good win in our last game and must look to keep building.

'Though we are probably too far behind the leading pair Bournemouth and Sarisbury I believe we can still achieve a top three finish.

'The league is very tight. One week you can be up near the top and the next back in the relegation battle.

'We are ruing our poor first half of the campaign when we only won two out of nine games.

'My prediction that we would be stronger in the second half is being proved correct.'

Portsmouth are also in action on Sunday at Hartley Wintney in the quarter-finals of the T20 knockout.

In division two Waterlooville face a crunch top-of-the-table clash against leaders Sparsholt at Rowlands Avenue.

Ville romped to an easy nine-wicket win at Trojans in their last game.

The home side know they face a far tougher test against a Sparsholt team beaten only once in the league this season.

Ville are still without experienced opening batsman James Scutt who is serving a three-game ban imposed by the club for dissent.