Littlehampton are the new leaders

They overtook Chichester who, for the second successive match, saw their match abandoned. This time it was at home to Haywards Heath, who dropped to fifth and are now 53 points behind Littlehampton. Chichester are nine points behind Littlehampton, with third-placed Stirlands a further 20 points back. Littlehampton won the toss and asked Worthing to bat first and they finished on 179-7 after collapsing from 150-1. Brothers Ollie and David Rogers put on 73 for the first wicket and Ollie and Alex Harris then added 77 for the second wicket. Ollie struck 91 with 14 fours and one six and Harris 33 with one four and one six. Littlehampton captain Benn Challen grabbed four wickets for 57 runs. In reply, Littlehampton lost both openers quickly and fell to 39-3 before Challen and James Askew steadied the ship with a 66-run fourth-wicket stand. Challen fell after striking 35 before Askew and Gary Tester saw Littlehampton home with an unbroken 62-run sixth-wicket partnership. Askew ended up with an unbeaten 56 and Tester hit 31 not out. In the Invitation League, Arundel won a low-scoring contest at home to Horsham Trinity. Arundel fell from 49-0 to 84 all out with Trinity's Nigel Smith taking 7-26. Richard James, with 32, top-scored for Arundel. Trinity were then undone by Arundel leg-spinner Rakesh Parmar who took his fourth six-wicket haul of the season. He grabbed six for nine runs from 14 overs, with 10 maidens, to help bowl Trinity out for just 43. He now has 31 wickets for the season. Left-arm spinner Neil Chitty also took three for 12 from 10 overs. In Division 3, Clymping had the better of their draw at home to Ram, who started the day as the division's leaders. Clymping were asked to bat first and scored 193-7 from 43 overs with Andy Dick scoring 56 as Prakesh took 4-22. In reply, Ram finished on 117-8 from 39 overs with Karl Pierce taking 4-20. Rustington were unable to make it back-to-back wins in Division 4 as they lost by 142 runs to Eastergate. Eastergate, who were put into bat, scored 200-7 from 39 overs with Steve Grant hitting 90. Simon Gosden took four wickets for Rustington, who were then dismissed for just 58. Greg Thwaites took 9-28 for Eastergate, which is a club 1st XI best. For full reports and match reaction, see Thursday's Littlehampton Gazette.