TRINITY Mid-Whitgiftian were relegated to Division Three as Purley guaranteed their own survival with a 42-run win at Lime Meadow on Saturday.
A strong showing from the visiting middle order was fundamental as they recovered from 68-5 to post a competitive 206 after electing to bat.
Harry Hanford played excellent shots in the opening exchanges as Mark Roberts and Matt Winter initially struggled to hit the right line and length, but three quick wickets altered the mood.
Hanford was caught by Savion Lara at point, Stuart Glassington saw his bails clipped by Roberts for a third ball duck and Shane Patel was bowled by Winter in the very next over.
As the Trinity bowlers grew in confidence and accuracy, runs began to dry up, and just as Tion Webster was settling at the crease, Christian Bond took a sharp catch off the first ball of his own bowling to dismiss the West Indian.
When Purley captain James Scott was caught by his opposite number, Winter, the visitors looked in trouble, but Adam Windley batted diligently for almost an hour and half to hold the innings together.
Windley (37) shared important stands with Tauseef Mehdi (29) and Raul Madhok (11) in the middle order to give Purley the upper hand as a Mids side lacking winning know-how were unable to kill off their opponents.
An erratic spell from spinner Raj Chatwal gave Winter another headache as Trinity's bowlers sent down a generous string of wides.
With Mike Brugnoli unable to bowl through injury, the under-utilised Yousaf Zahari took the wickets of Windley and Madhok.
However, an excellent cameo from number ten Thishan Wanigaratne (23) took the Purley total past 200 before they lost their final wicket off the last ball of their allocation.
Trinity's batsmen failed to make an impact against the loss of early wickets. Adam Kelly captured the first three as Patel drove straight to Glassington at mid-off, Christian Bond was caught by James Scott and Lara played onto his stumps.
Raul Madhok then took three more in his first three overs from the other end to leave Mids in disarray.
Stuart Clarke was given out lbw before Scott took two catches at slip, the first a magnificent effort to claim the coveted wicket of Purley old boy Stewart Sales as Mids collapsed to 66-6.
Yousaf Zahari, Mids' best performer on the day, combined well with Raj Chatwal as the pair produced the biggest stand to put the innings back on track. They doubled the score in relative comfort, but Razi Khan and Scott applied pressure and their patience was rewarded when Scott breached Chatwal's defences for a hard-fought 25.
Zahari (39) was dismissed in identical fashion as Mids suffered another mini-collapse, but Winter and Mike Brugnoli held out for seven overs before Madhok hammered the final nail into Trinity's relegation. An unsettled line-up, inconsistent performances, and a lack of players to fill specialist positions have caught up with Trinity.
In the last round, both sides could influence matters at the other end of the table as Purley host Chipstead, Coulsdon & Walcountians and Mids travel to Epsom.
