Its down to two at the top of Division Two

Raj Naik struck a superb 98 not out to steer Old Tauntonians & Romsey to a tense six-wicket win at Burridge and keep St Cross Symondians at bay in the chase for the Southern Electric Premier League championship.

But only four points separate OT's from St Cross, whose six-wicket win at Purbrook sets up a probable title decider at Romsey on August 23.

Easton & Martyr Worthy lost valuable ground in the race after crashing to a Keith Adams inspired United Services at Burnaby Road.

Burridge, who appeared in relegation trouble after losing four of their opening six games, certainly gave OT's a run for their money and only conceded defeat off the second ball of the final over.

Indeed, they were looking to mark Gary Brent's farewell game before returning to Zimbabwe with a sixth successive win.

Opener Peter Tugwell (55) enjoyed useful partnerships with Dave Jackson (26), Neil Cunningham (33) and Gary Brent (37) before departing at 150-3.

A middle-order wobble left Burridge to pick up the pieces at 157-5, but Paul Friedrich (28 not out) and Ian Williamson (18) managed to guide the Whiteley team to 201-6.

But Old Tauntonians were struggling with Nick Wood (hamstring) pulling up lame and Stuart Tulk damaging a hand, which subsequently required hospital treatment.

Hampshire Under-16 team manager Terry Trodd, 62, emerged from the scorebox as a thoroughly able 12th man !

The visitors sank into further trouble at 68-3 (Charles Forward 23) on a pitch which appeared to be giving increasing assistance to the bowlers, particularly Matt Godwin (2-43).

But Naik and Ian Tulk gradually turned the tide - the little Indian all-rounder frequently punishing the bad ball in between sound defence.

The left-handed Tulk (36) scored a succession of boundaries as OT's advanced to 147-4 when the weary Rose Bowl assistant groundsman was run out attempting an over-ambitious third.

Burridge refused to let go, making the Premier 2 leaders fight for the six runs an over they needed to win.

But, significantly, they never looked like shifting Naik, whose 11th boundary secured a six-wicket victory, with just four balls of a compelling match remaining.

St Cross Symondians, whose lean batting form had led to two recent defeats, feared another untimely mishap when they collapsed to 51-4 at Purbrook.

But with what skipper Matt Perry-Lewis described as "our batting partnership of the season", Rhys Morgan and Ben Adams turned the match on its head and earned St Cross a key victory.

Purbrook posted a challenging 187 through Ian Hunter and Mike Hennessy (37) - Mark Padwick's off-spin yielded a 3-30 return - before Will Prozesky got amongst the St Cross top order.

Fergus Haycock, Graham Barrett, Marc Rees and 587-run Steve Shaw all departed before Morgan (77 not out) and Ben Adams, with a league-best 73 not out, got to grips with matters and guided St Cross home with an unbeaten century-plus stand.

Easton & Martyr Worthy's top order was ripped apart by the pacey Keith Adams, whose 6-27 was his best spell since returning from Loughborough University.

Adams ripped out Easton's top four and was really only held up by Ian Butcher (26) and Kevin Neave as the visitors crumbled to 125 all out.

Damian Carson (3-25) marked his return from injury with three important strikes as US boosted their prospects of Premier 2 survival.

They lost two early wickets to Mark Stone, who finished with 4-28, but Sam Lavery's unbeaten 64, aided by Gary Hounsome (21), secured the bounty.

The US win, which co-incided with Gosport Borough's seven-wicket success at Hursley Park, has got the alarm bells are ringing at Sparsholt.

The Winchester club were edged out by three wickets in a 503-run thriller at Lymington and drop into the bottom two as a result.

A century partnership betwen Tim Richings (86) and Nick Wolstenholme (58), aided by Nick Boxall (36)and Bill Gunyon (28), posted a healthy 251-7 for Sparsholt.

But Lymington scored run all down the order, with Glyn Treagus (59), Danny Peacock (47), Ben Craft (26) and Martin Hunt (25) leading the chase.

Lymington's victory looked in doubt when they slipped to 223-7, but some useful strikes by Christian Pain and Adie Hunt got them home with three balls to spare.

Hursley Park were outplayed in every department by Gosport, who dismissed their hosts for 193 (James Lush 58) and cruised to a seven-wicket win through Mike Rees (51 not out), Adam Watkins (47) and Lee Wateridge (43).