Parkes's Unbeaten 143 Powers Fourth XI to 303 as Sharma's 148 Lights Up Sunday

Parkes's Unbeaten 143 Powers Fourth XI to 303 as Sharma's 148 Lights Up Sunday

Ali Parkes produced the individual performance of the weekend, an unbeaten 143 that carried the Fourth XI to a mammoth 303 for 5 and a comfortable victory over Aldershot, while Aahaan Sharma went one better with the bat on Sunday, striking 148 not out against Marlow after taking four wickets. Elsewhere the results were harder to come by, though Mohammed Zahid's four-wicket haul for the First XI and Harrison Lott's battling 45 for the Thirds offered plenty to admire.

1st XI

Sonning's decision to bowl first at King George's Field looked an inspired one for long spells, with Hayes (Middlesex) dismissed for 171 in 39.3 overs. Mohammed Zahid was the pick of the attack, returning 4 for 26 from 9.3 miserly overs including three maidens, while Damario Goodman bowled ten straight for 2 for 41 and Max Murphy chipped in with 2 for 33. Danyal Ghazi and skipper Peter Higginbottom took a wicket apiece.

Kunal Roy was the obstacle, compiling 61 from 66 balls and adding 53 for the sixth wicket with Prashant Kumar to lift the visitors to a defendable total after they had slipped from a promising position.

The reply never gathered momentum. Prashant Kumar was close to unplayable, taking 4 for 4 from 7.2 overs, and Roy followed his half-century with 3 for 8 from seven overs as Sonning were bowled out for 80 in 32.2. Zahid again stood tallest with 28 from 59 balls, and Amaad Ali struck a brisk 19 from ten deliveries, but the top order's early losses proved decisive in the Division 1B defeat.

2nd XI

The Second XI came up short at The Turnbull Cricket Ground, where Braywood won the toss, batted, and posted 177 for 9 from their 36 overs in this Division 4B fixture.

Chasing, Sonning built steadily without ever quite breaking free. Jacob Fitton anchored the innings with 25 from 55 balls and shared 42 for the second wicket with David Coutts, whose 25 from 38 deliveries included five boundaries. Kavya Panchal top-scored with 26 from 42, and Gaurav Jayan contributed a useful 14.

The middle order could not sustain the platform. Saksham Singh's nine-over spell brought 3 for 30 and Mohsin Bukhari returned outstanding figures of 4 for 18 from four overs to wrap things up, Sonning falling for 141 in 35.2 overs, 36 runs adrift.

3rd XI

Inserted at Knowl Hill, the Third XI were pegged back throughout a long, attritional innings, eventually posting 111 all out from 38 overs against Wokingham's Fifth XI in Division 7A.

Harrison Lott provided the backbone with a determined 45 from 71 balls, five fours to his name, and his 55-run stand for the third wicket with Elliot Dawes was the innings' one period of genuine control. Dawes battled for 33 from 91 deliveries, but once the pair were separated the innings unravelled: Shiv Muniyappa produced the remarkable figures of 5 for 8 from three overs, while Mahesh Bhandary's nine overs cost just 13.

Sonning's bowlers refused to go quietly. Pranay Abhijeet claimed 3 for 15 from 3.4 overs and Isaac Jenner took 2 for 26, but Ranjeet Sidhu's 37 from 19 balls settled matters and Wokingham reached 115 for 5 inside 17.4 overs.

4th XI

A commanding all-round display saw the Fourth XI dismantle Aldershot's Fifth XI by 113 runs at Yateley Manor School in Division 9C. Asked to bat, Sonning racked up 303 for 5 from their 40 overs.

Ali Parkes was magnificent, finishing unbeaten on 143 from 130 balls with 25 fours, and he was involved in three substantial stands: 77 for the second wicket with Peeush Bajpai (26), 44 for the third with captain Arun Raghavendra (15) and 54 for the fourth with Rishabh Singh, who hit 21 from 17 balls including two sixes. The finishing touch came from Shahbaz Ali, whose 56 not out from just 30 deliveries, with seven fours and two sixes, propelled the total past 300.

Aldershot responded gamely through Jon Ford's 52 and a 74-run third-wicket partnership with Purnachandra Rao Jagarlamudi, while Azaan Ali finished unbeaten on 50. It was never enough. Aahaan Sharma led the attack with 3 for 33, Siddharth Kumar took 2 for 22, and wickets for Arthur Parkes, Rish Bajpai, Raghavendra and Shahbaz Ali completed the rout for 190 in 32 overs.

Sunday 1s

Marlow's Sunday XI won the toss and batted at King George's Field, and despite being bowled out for 251 in 35.4 overs they had enough runs in the bank. Mohsin Khan's 62 from 49 balls, laced with 13 fours, and a 90-run fourth-wicket stand with Tarun Khare (44) were the platform.

Aahaan Sharma was the standout with the ball, taking 4 for 28 from 4.4 overs to trigger the collapse that ended the innings, with Shahbaz Ali claiming 3 for 61, Geethika Jyothis 2 for 35 and Kishan Akula 1 for 25.

Sharma then produced something special with the bat. Losing partners at regular intervals, including three wickets down for next to nothing early on, he struck 148 not out from 125 balls with 29 fours, carrying the innings almost single-handedly. Stands of 36 with William Travers, 35 with Akula and 41 with Shahbaz Ali kept hope alive, and Idris Malik's unbeaten 15 saw out the overs, but Sonning closed on 224 for 8, 27 runs short of a memorable chase.

With the season entering its closing stretch, the Fourth XI's emphatic win and the twin hundreds from Ali Parkes and Aahaan Sharma give Sonning genuine momentum to build on next weekend.