DIVISION 4A: Cookham Dean 242-8dec (15pts) drew with Hayes 218-9 (9pts)

League leaders Cookham Dean gave Hayes their sternest task for some weeks and in the end only the hosts' final pair prevented Cookham taking the win.

Keith Wallis, batting at number eight because he was still feeling the effects of the previous week's leg injury, and number 11 Tommy King survived the final 27 deliveries to register a draw from a game that might have gone either way.

Cookham banked 16 points compared to nine for Hayes by dint of batting first, and sixth-placed Hayes slipped 25 points behind Windsor II, who now occupy top spot.

The visitors were asked to bat by Simon Green but his opening attack of Claudius Wayland and Rex Kumar struggled to make in-roads as Cookham got off to a solid start and it was not until the introduction of Sean Morgan that the hosts grabbed their first success with 60 on the board.

Hayes chipped away to reduce Cookham to 129 for four but a middle order stand of 76 put paid to hopes of a low run chase on a good batting track.

King (4-77) slipped in with four wickets at the death but solid batting all the way down the order enabled Cookham to finish on 242 for eight at the end of their allotted overs, with Morgan finishing with two for 33.

Hayes still fancied their chances but they did not get the best of starts as Simon Green's off-stump was uprooted in the first over and, with the reliable Micky Green absent, they then lost Umer Farooq with the score on 27.

Mark Funnell (25) and Ram Ramnath (34) kept the scoreboard ticking over at the required rate yet both perished when well set and when both Chris Frost and Mo Arshad gave their wickets away cheaply, the hosts had slipped to 123 for six.

The asking rate of five an over was still within reach but a mix up between Kumar and Wallis, which resulted in Kumar being run out, cost Hayes their last real chance of victory at 151 for seven.

Wallis, however, was not about to give in just yet and he batted with aplomb, finding a temporary ally in Morgan (19) until he departed at 195 for eight.

Wallis was still prepared to play his shots but when he lost Wayland to make it 206 for nine with 27 balls still remaining and archetypal number 11 King at the other end, a draw was the best they could hope for and the pair batted well to finish on 218 for nine, with Wallis ending on a worthy 54 not out.

* The second XI put in a better performance than of late away to Cookham Dean II where they posted an imposing 273 for eight in their 52 overs, thanks mainly to captain Keith Jones (67) and Colin Richardson (56 not out).

The hosts were 84-1 at one stage of their reply but Vipon Sharma (3-69) struck three times to halt their surge and Cookham closed on 203 for eight to claim a draw.

DIVISION ONE: Kew 225 (25pts) beat Harefield 166 (6pts) by 59 runs

IN-FORM Harefield lost valuable ground in the race for the title after slipping to a potentially critical defeat at mid-table Kew.

All was going to plan early on for for the Hares, who went into the game in second place, 17 points behind leaders Beaconsfield, when they nipped out D Lowe (2), M Dunusinghe (14) and Max Taylor (0).

Mluleki Nkala (2-44) made the initial breakthrough and Akshay Reddy (3-79) landed two further blows to reduce the hosts to 27 for three, but from then on it became more difficult.

Bruce Friderichs dug in to anchor the Kew effort and while he went on to be the sixth man out for a match-winning 90, contributions from Edward Knowles (24) and Neil Goulding (28) took the total ever higher.

After Friderichs departed with the score on 172 for six, James Tinkell (37 not out off 27 balls) and Rob Tindall (20 not out off 13) blasted late runs to take Kew to 225 for six.

Reddy and Terry Crabb got the Hare-field chase off to a good start, putting on 78 for the first wicket, but Crabb's dismissal for 45 sparked a collapse of four wickets for seven runs and it was downhill from there.

That became six wickets for 28 runs as Rohit Bajaj (6-59) wreaked havoc and despite the efforts of James Hammerton (19), Nkala (17) and Nick Lines (13 not out), Harefield slid to a 59-run defeat after being bowled out for 166.

Harefield slipped to third place, 31 points off top spot, ahead of Saturday's trip to fourth-placed Amersham.

* Former Harefield players are encouraged to return to Woods Cricket Ground for a club lunch at 12.30pm on Saturday, July 19. Anyone wishing to attend, before the first team takes on Bagshot, should call Steve Finch on 07770 376153.

On Friday, July 25, Harefield host an Old England XI featuring the likes of the legendary Derek Randall and John Lever for a fixture scheduled to begin at 1.30pm.

Entry to the ground will cost £5 and anyone is welcome to come along.

DIVISION 3A: Cove 217-8 (25pts) beat Hillingdon Manor 153 (7pts) by 64 runs

AVAILABILITY problems throughout the club took their toll on Hillingdon Manor and it could hardly have come at a worse time for the first team as they slumped to a Cove side that took over top spot in the division.

A weakened first XI got off to a superb start as opening bowlers Aftab Akram and Stephen Duce each picked up an early wicket and Duce continued to make in-roads in a dangerous spell of quick bowling.

He snared four wickets for 71 from a marathon spell of 17 overs with good support from Justin Nicholls, on his first team debut, who took three for 34.

Manor were favourites for the win after reducing Cove to 166 for eight despite Troy Tomsett's mature knock of 72 from 98 balls.

However, a couple of dropped catches cost Manor dear as Stephen Harvey (43 not out) and Roger Farmiloe (11 not out) added an unbeaten 51 for the ninth wicket to take the hosts to 217 for eight.

Harvey's knock came off 36 balls and included two very large sixes.

Manor made a good start in response with Mandeep Sarai (34) and Mark Seymour (18) putting on 49 for the first wicket before both fell to Farmiloe (3-21) and although the middle order batsmen all made starts they were unable to capatilise.

Andy McNeill took four for 34 to leave Manor in trouble at 102 for eight before captain Simon Webb led the fightback, hitting 31 off 41 balls including two straight sixes. Unfortunately he could not resist taking on the change bowler and with his downfall Manor's hopes of a positive result disappeared. [25a0] The second XI had a bad day too as they were bowled out for just 127 by one of the best attacks in Division 5A.

Justin Corbin (26), Sid Moledina and Peter Lonsdale (both 20) gave the team a good start at 76 for two but a flurry of wickets to Falkland III fast bowler Harry Griffin (4-31) sparked a collapse of eight wickets for only 51 runs.

A determined spell from veteran Gary Smith (1-30) was not enough as Falkland eased home for the loss of only three wickets. [25a0] Manor's bad day was complete when the thirds lost by 161 runs to Chesham IV, who posted 237 for four despite a good spell of swing bowling from Antonio Thushanthan (2-27).

Manor's response never got going as the top order collapsed to 26 for six and late runs from the tail end were not enough as Manor slipped to 76 all out to suffer their worst defeat of the Division 8B season.