ANOTHER bumper crowd enjoyed the charity match between Hartley Wintney and the Hampshire Legends XI.

The home side batted first and scored 173-6 from their 20 overs, as Ari Karvelas top scored with 54 (28 balls five sixes and four fours), supported well by Jack Hersh (42) Matt Kerr (36) and Danny Plume (31).

The Hampshire Legends, led by Shaun Udal, made it home with three balls to spare and with the loss of six wickets.

Openers Jason Laney (42) and Sean Morris (41) led the way, with former Basingstoke player Mitch Stokes getting 18.

Hartley captain Jamie Teale said: “It was a fantastic day for the whole village. It was great to see a big crowd and I am sure they enjoyed what was an entertaining game.”

The following day, Hartley slipped out of the promotion spots in Southern League Division Two, after they suffered a rare seven-wicket defeat at OTs and Romsey.

The home side won the toss and elected to bowl.

It looked good for Hartley, as Hersh (32) and Plume (58) moved them onto 61-1, but the village side then lost three quick wickets and the innings never really got going after this as they were all out for a total of 153.

Romsey got home with ease, only losing three wickets.

As Sparsholt won at Calmore Sports, they moved into second spot, pushing Hartley down to third.

This weekend, Hartley are at home to mid-table Portsmouth, while Sparsholt entertain relegation-threatened Totton and Eling II.

The village side will be minus opener Hersh for the visit of Portsmouth, so Louis Lynch, who has done well when on first team duty this season, steps up from the second team.

Looking ahead to the weekend, skipper Teale said: “We have to forget about last week, as we did not play as well as we could.

“We have to get back to winning ways to keep the pressure up on the top two.”