TEN-WICKET victories for Tilford and Frensham against the two bottom sides were in sharp contrast to the I’Anson Division One thriller between Puttenham and Grayshott.

Grayshott won off the last ball of the match to remain hot on the heels of leaders Grayswood at the halfway point of the I’Anson season.

Stand-in captain Gary Hunt chose to bowl on a flat Heath track that always looked likely to produce a high-scoring game. Kiaran Wells removed Puttenham’s openers with 48 on the board, but Ahsan Dildar Awan, granted an early life, made Grayshott pay with some powerful straight hitting and the run-rate climbed as wickets fell at one end and Awan attacked at the other.

At 175-5, with Awan still going strong, a 250-plus total was on the cards, but Rob Gregory got his man. Awan bowled for 122 from 121 balls, including 17 fours and four sixes – a superb innings. Wells cleaned up with three late wickets, finishing with 5-37 off 12 overs, and the visitors were relieved to have Puttenham all out for 221 in the 45th over.

Puttenham, although hit by recent suspensions and missing skipper Aks Ilyas from their attack, seemed well on the way to an emphatic victory after reducing Grayshott to 88-5.

But Hunt was still there and Grayshott, disdaining to play for the draw, counter-attacked. Gregory, promoted up the order because he had to leave early, went after the spinners and raced to a timely first I’Anson 50.

Hunt eventually fell to Matty Hussain (3-71) for a disciplined 78, while Gregory, having made 57 off 51 balls, probably didn’t endear himself to his team-mated by retiring himself out.

All results were still possible in the tense final stages. Robbie Judge was run out for 16, Danny Brown was quickly bowled by Ahsan Ahmed, and Grayshott were up against it at 215-9.

But Wells and Mark Richards were equal to the situation and with one run required off the last ball, young Wells, under huge pressure, cut the winning boundary to finish 24 not out.

Tilford beat ten-man Lurgashall in a match that lasted just 35 overs and was over by 3.15pm. Tilford put the under-strength visitors in to bat and Huw Town-Jones and Geoff Coombe speedily reduced them to 59-5. Dom Grove put up some resistance, but Jason Stones snapped up 3-9 in four overs and Lurgashall were dismissed for 65 after 22 overs.

Only Nathan Sprittles and Matt Cook were required as Tilford reached the target in 13 overs. Cook was in a hurry and his 41 not out included eight fours and a six.

Frensham’s home meeting with Witley followed a similar pattern. The bottom side were inserted and were hustled out for 62 in 28 overs, with Ollie Hickman, a very frustrated skipper, left stranded on 17 not out. Jack Richards did the initial damage, taking 4-14 in nine overs, and spinner Tom Knight followed up with 4-21 in 7.5.

Openers George Breddy and Tom Charman needed just 9.2 overs to knock off the runs and it was an early tea at Hollowdene.

Pirbright, beaten only once in six games, were put in by Grayswood who were looking to bounce back after losing their undefeated record to Frensham the previous week. The visitors were going well at 50-1, with Robbie Jones and Jonathan Swinney seeing off the new ball. Things changed when both fell to Harvey Nash, but again Pirbright showed a strong resolve and valuable contributions from Puneet Saraswat and Ryland Kelly (34 not out) gave them a total they could bowl at. Nash returned fine figures of 14-6-29-4 and Jon Ashworth bowled a testing spell of left-arm spin.

Set 165 to win from 42 overs, Grayswood slipped to 89-4 and it was game on. However, Ian Milton dropped a sharp chance from Iain Jackson off his own bowling and that was the last chance that Grayswood would offer. Jackson went on to score a well-crafted 63 not out, while Graham Dooling hit an unbeaten 45 at nearly a run-a-ball. Their partnership of 79 saw Grayswood ease home with more than six overs to spare.

Headley won their mid-table meeting with Chiddingfold, thanks largely to an inspired spell of bowling by Callum Hawtin. Inserted on a greenish deck, Headley were given a solid start by Stuart Smith and Ashley Cook and, 69-0 at halfway, the platform was set for a later flourish. Ben Evans then made the breakthrough and although George Ellis raised the tempo with 29 off 13 balls, Headley stumbled to 134-6. It needed a valuable 38 not out from Harry Clarke, plus handy runs from the late order, to get Headley up to 193-9 from 48 overs.

Matt Hall’s opening spell of 2-5 off 10 overs strangled Chiddingfold at first, but Matt Wright and Matt Barnett steadied things, and then Barnett and Paul Harrison put the visitors in a commanding position at 120-3. However, Callum Hawtin trapped Harrison in front and, next over, Barnett was caught in the deep off Smith for 44.

Hawtin then produced a quick and accurate spell and shot out the tail, his last three victims all being bowled for ducks. Hawtin finished with 5-26 in seven overs, while Hall took the final wicket to record remarkable figures of 11.4-6-12-3. Chiddingfold, having threatened to run away with the game at one stage, were suddenly all out for 135, with five overs still remaining.

Six points from a close, high-scoring draw with Dogmersfield was enough to get Blackheath out of the bottom two. Dhaniyal scored a fast 61, including 12 boundaries, for Dogmersfield and with the middle order all chipping in, the visitors mustered 210 all out in 46 overs. Oliver Arengo-Jones was the most successful bowler with 4-16.

Blackheath gave a much-improved batting display. Josh Milton (42) and Rob Parrott (53) put on 94 for the first wicket and a quickfire 58 not out off 35 balls from Matt Burch brought the target in sight. However, Miraj Shinwari put a brake on the scoring at a vital time and Blackheath finished 10 runs behind at 200-6 from 44 overs.