GERRARDS Cross produced an astonishing performance to beat Wargrave by 88 runs in Division One of the Thames Valley League on Saturday.

Having lost the toss and being inserted into bat, the Cross were soon 19-2 with both openers out cheaply thanks to some excellent bowling.

This brought Chris Marrow and David Cleary to the crease. They played beautifully to add over 100 runs for the third wicket before Cleary departed for a well-made 40.

A middle order collapse threatened to derail the innings, but Marrow stood firm and finished unbeaten on 120 for the second time this season. It took Gerrards Cross up to a respectable 224-8 from their 52 overs.

Wargrave were on the front foot from ball one in reply with Mandip Soor smashing a number of boundaries in an entertaining 46 from 35 balls. He was ably supported by Salman Khalid (33).

Following the departure of Soor, the visitors pressed on with Michael Holder (39) taking the score to 124-1.

With 100 runs required, Cross captain Richard Knudsen came back into the attack and made an instant impact, taking 5-15 to rip through the middle order. Jon Denning (4-35) swung the ball at the other end to finish them game with Wargrave stunned.

The final nine wickets fell for just 12 runs, leaving the away side 136 all out, in a remarkable hour of play.

Gerrards Cross have not had a result like this for some time and remain in seventh position in the league table. The Cross will take huge confidence and momentum into their next fixture at leaders North Maidenhead this Saturday (1pm start).

High Wycombe 2s have dropped into the two relegation spots in the table following a second consecutive defeat, losing by six wickets at home to Slough 2s.

Slough won the coin toss and invited High Wycombe to bat first at London Road, the home side reaching 159-9 in 43 overs.

Opening batsman Matt Pugh was the leading runs scorer with 56 runs from 109 balls, including six boundaries. It is his third half-century for the team this season and takes his average for the summer to 28.50.

Captain and fellow opener John Stevens made 35 from 54 and the pair put on 52 runs for the first wicket. Pugh then added 53 in a second-wicket partnership with Simon Janes (24).

The pick of the Slough bowlers was Sulaiman Akhtar with his figures of 4-31 from nine overs, which included the wicket of Pugh.

The visitors managed 162-4 from 30.4 overs in response for the win although they have dropped one place to fourth in the league table.

Yaqoot Rafiq top-scored with 48 runs from 52 balls, whilst Harry Lane took figures of 2-40 from 10.4 overs.

High Wycombe 2s will bid to regain the winning thread with a victory at Wargrave this Saturday.