A SEVENTH win in eight matches sent Liphook & Ripsley into third place ahead of their final fixture at Rowledg.

It was another gritty display by Harry Munt’s side after they had again lost the toss and been inserted on a testing wicket at Ripsley Park.

Giles Cover’s disciplined innings proved crucial and in the end Liphook won comfortably enough by 60 runs, leaving Totton & Eling in a battle to avoid a second consecutive relegation.

Number 3 Cover held Liphook together with a patient and well-judged 94 not out, batting 147 minutes and facing 113 balls, while picking off 12 boundaries.

Liphook were 61-5 at one stage, with Azeem Hamid (3-30 in 10 overs) posing all sorts of problems.

But Cover and Grant Rouse (25) shared a vital seventh-wicket partnership of 50 and, as usual, Charles Janczur and Sean Burton chipped in with valuable runs.

Cover was there for the duration and shepherded Liphook to 190 all out, with six overs going spare.

Totton & Eling, in contrast, never really recovered after being reduced to 56-5. Suman Ganguly removed both openers as he and Janczur made good use of the new ball, after which Burton further turned the screw with a typically miserly spell of 2 for 19 in ten overs.

Off-spinners Elliott Hawkins and Jamie Hall enjoyed themselves, sharing five economical wickets on a responsive track.

Simon Ennew held Liphook up with a defiant 44 before being ninth man out, bowled by Hall, and it was left to man-of-the-match Cover to claim the final wicket, leaving Totton all out for 130 in the 46th over.

This was Liphook’s fifth straight win and with potentially good news on player recruitment, they hope to make a serious challenge for league honours next season.