Chesham’s hopes of winning the Thames Valley League Division One title took a serious blow as they lost by 65 runs to rivals Wokingham on Saturday.

The sides came into the match in second and third respectively and both are attempting to chase down league leaders Stoke Green.

Having won the toss, Chesham opted to put their opponents into bat and were made to toil before Gift Kwatsha claimed their first wicket with 65 on the board.

Former Middlesex man Dan Housego’s 67 put Wokingham in control and guided them to 142 before the rot set in on their innings.

The collapse was spearheaded by Chesham’s spinners with Pip France (4-53) and Asad Rehman (4-64) impressing as they restricted the hosts to 210 from their 52 overs.

The total was certainly competitive, and Chesham struggled to get going as their run chase lacked solidity and they failed to get near the Wokingham score.

Luke Webb was their main source of inspiration with a battling 58 at number three, but a scarcity of similar steel in the rest of the order saw his knock go unrewarded.

Kwatsha was the only other batsmen to make any sort of impact with 37 but he would ultimately be at fault for Chesham missing out on a potentially vital draw.

With the score on 145-9 Kwatsha opted to play an unnecessary big shot during the penultimate over and handed Wokingham the win with a simple catch.

Paul Dewick provided most of the problems with the ball throughout Chesham’s innings and took an impressive 4-27 from his 15 overs.

He was ably supported by Cameron Spence whose controlled approach saw him claim 2-20 in Wokingham’s winning effort.

Despite the result, Chesham maintain their second place standing in the division, but are now just nine points clear of their pursuers.

A home match against strugglers Kew provides them with the ideal chance to bounce back as they try to close the 32 point gap to Stoke Green on Saturday.