HAMBLEDON needed to win their last Southern Premier Division 3 fixture at Ridge Meadow to keep their promotions hopes alive.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, they soon lost skipper James Scutt, bowled for eight by Brian Lipscombe.

Simon Milenko (37) and George Marshall then put on 62 for the second wicket before Matt Perry-Lewis bowled Milenko. The home side then lost three quick wickets and at 118-5 still needed a lot to do to post a decent score.

However Marshall’s 57 and Jon Burdekin’s undefeated 52 enabled Hambledon to close on 210-8.

In reply, St Cross were soon in trouble losing three quick wickets with only 23 on the board, opening bowlers Simon Milenko (1-16) and Richard Marshall (2-21) doing the damage. The visitors never recovered and collapsed to 98 all out with Dan Hewitt (3-13) and Rhidian Chapman (3-8) polishing off the tail.

Hambledon now travel to Bournemouth for the final game of the season needing 20 points to secure promotion.

IBM Hursley v Hambledon II

HAMBLEDON seconds travelled to IBM Hursley and having won the toss, elected to bowl on a very slow wet wicket.

Teenagers Tom Mills and Chris Gibson soon had a stranglehold on the IBM batsmen with Gibson (1-20) making an early breakthrough.

IBM, however, managed to reach 75-3 off the first 26 overs and looked well placed to post a decent total on a difficult surface. Hambledon’s young spinners had other ideas and James Atkinson, in a remarkable spell of 4-16 off 10 overs, tore through the IBM batting line up, and with debutant leg spinner Tom Seebold (1-19) also bowling well, IBM collapsed to 110 all out.

Although not a daunting target with a slow wicket and outfield it was always likely to be a challenge, and with two wickets down with only 11 on the board, the visitors were soon in trouble.

However a stand of 64 between James Marshall and Toby de Mellow (18) put Hambledon back in control. Three quick wickets followed and gave IBM a glimpse of an unlikely victory but Marshall kept his nerve with a mature 54* and Hambledon crept home with three wickets and five overs to spare.