Alton reached the next round of the Southern Premier Cricket League Twenty20 Cup with a comfortable eight-wicket victory at Ventnor in the second round.

Alton won the toss and bowled first. Tom Varney was immediately on target as he found the edge of the dangerous Dineth Thimodya. Heffernan completed the catch as Ventnor’s overseas player was dismissed for just six.

The same combination then removed James Cheek for four.

Wickets continued to fall. Scott Myers picked up Henry Bartlett for 15 in his first over and Zach Gadsby bowled Henry Edwards for a duck. The home side were 27 for four.

Off spinner Dan Sumner returned to the attack and took two quick wickets to reduce Ventnor to 48 for six.

A mini recovery took Ventnor to 87, but Ruffell (one for five), Varney (three for 16) and Sumner (three for 14) all struck as the home side finished on 95 for nine.

Alton’s chase never looked in doubt as Ruffell and Dan Harris moved the Brewers to 44 inside the power play, before Harris was trapped in front for 14. Ruffell continued to attack and reached his half-century off 24 balls. He was eventually dismissed for 52 off 27 balls after hitting five fours and three sixes.

Sam Bridger (12 not out) and under-15 batter Ethan van der Linde (19 not out) eased the Brewers home as they reached their target in the 14th over.

Alton will host Portsmouth in the quarter-finals.

Alton’s second team slipped to a close two-wicket defeat against high-flying Ferndown Wayfarers in Division One of the Hampshire Cricket League on Saturday.

The second-string Brewers put up a performance full of heart, but were left frustrated as they were denied at the last.

After an inclement heavy rain shower, Alton were keen to get the game on and began a mop-up operation that took a couple of hours.

When the game started it was reduced to 35 overs per side, from the normal 50.

The visiting side won the toss and asked Alton to bat first in tough conditions, but on a decent-looking pitch.

Andy Postles (25) and young opening partner Ethan van der Linde (18) batted very nicely against the new ball to give Alton a good start as they approached 50 without loss.

However, both departed soon afterwards, and Alton’s middle order was removed in quick time to leave the home side struggling. Matt Crane offered resistance and hope for Alton as he made a well-constructed 29, and he finally found support from Dan Scott who made 24 not out.

Alton’s total of 136 was not huge, but felt competitive at least in the conditions.

Ferndown came out positively with the bat, and made a similar start to the home side, but Michael Salmon (two for 27) struck twice to get Alton into the game.

Will Avery (30) accumulated well, and found support from the dangerous Alex Sansom, but Gemma Porter (two for 18) removed them both.

Scott took two quick wickets to leave Ferndown on 117 for eight and put Alton on top.

Daryl Baines (nine not out) and Miles Lewis (seven not out) edged Ferndown towards their target, which they reached with just three balls to spare.

Alton were left deflated, but should be encouraged by a good all-round performance against a team towards the top of the table.

Alton’s third team made it eight wins from eight as they beat Ramsdell’s second team by 62 runs in Division Five North East of the Hampshire Cricket League.

Alton won the toss, and despite early rain elected to bat first on what looked like a good surface. Despite the early loss of Sam Parrott, half-centuries from Thomas Green (54) and Andrew Pearce (65) saw Alton post 223 off their 40 overs. Ramsdell were never up with the rate – Ian Carpenter went for just five runs in his opening six-over spell. Leg spinner Sam Bridger took four for 32 as Ramsdell made 161 for seven.