Middlesex Championship Division One

Old Actonians 252-8

Wycombe House 252-8

Match tied

Dilesh Perera batted through the pain to hit a magnificent 96 on his return from injury and earn Wycombe House a dramatic tie with Old Actonians on Saturday.

House won the toss and stuck their opponents in, a decision they soon regretted as the Old Actonians openers put on 125.

In came the spinners, with Sohail Elahi picking up five wickets again and Mehboob Elahi three as Old Actonians reached 252-8 off 53 overs.

In reply, the fall of Zahid Ahmed and Jalal Uddin brought in Elahi, who built a great partnership with Perera, who was still not fully fit after four weeks out with a tendon injury in his hand.

The pair rotated the strike cleverly until Mehboob was run out attempting an extra run, but Perera kept going despite wickets falling around him.

It came down to House needing seven off the last over. Perera hit the first two straight at cover, found the boundary with the third, followed by a dot ball from the fourth.

The Sri Lankan then ran two off the fifth ball, but, to add to the drama, the umpire ruled they ran one short, leaving two needed for victory off the last ball.

Perera hit it straight to a fielder and managed one, but was run out on the return, leaving the scores level. House at least had the consolation of a winning draw thanks to their faster run rate.

House remain third, 13 points off leaders and neighbours Osterley , who beat Birkbeck College by four wickets.

Summer holiday: Old Isleworthians & Heston CC on tour in North Devon

Meanwhile, they might not have tasted victory, but Old Isleworthians & Heston won plenty of friends on their annual tour to North Devon CC.

The hosts eased to 196, despite Old I’s veteran Colin Hearsum showing he still has a fine bowling arm, but the visitors struggled to reach the target, with only tour organiser Tony Parker shining with the bat.

A couple of fixtures against a winery side called Prosecco CC then proved that Old Is can still compete in the twenty20 format, with the O’Connell brothers, Clint Bean, Mike Peries and Grant Hudson all shining in the absence of veteran Steve Smith, who was not match fit after a heavy previous evening on the tiles.

Playing in such a beautiful setting was the perfect tonic for Old I’s following their league woes. They remain bottom of Middlesex Championship Division Three without a win, their latest loss coming by seven wickets to Kay Plus.

Also on Saturday, Rajput Samaj went down by five wickets to London Tigers in the Division Four Cup, while in Division Two, Turnham Green & Polytechnic grabbed a winning draw against Pinner.

A three-wicket win over 2012 champions Winchmore Hill kept Indian Gymkhana top of Division Two in the Middlesex County League, while Chiswick & Latymer managed a losing draw against Aldershot in Thames Valley League Division 2b, but British Airways lost by 108 runs to Windsor in 2a.