Three Bridges have retained an 11-point lead in the Shepherd Neame Sussex League premier division.

Nearest rivals Hastings have a game in hand and kept themselves in the hunt with an impressive 166-run triumph against St James's Montefiore.

Horsham still have hopes of retaining their title after beating Brighton and Hove by seven wickets in an amazing run chase.

Three Bridges, with their ground saturated, started late and played to second division rules against Worthing.

Batting first, Bridges made 211-6 declared, led by 87 from skipper Danny Alderman while Krishana Singh hit 35.

David Evans, with 3-28, was the pick of the weakened Worthing attack.

When Worthing batted they had little answer to the pace of Nick Creed, who grabbed 6-43 as they tumbled to 163 all out.

Jaime Forbes made 52 and Tim Dunn 30.

At Horntye, visiting St James's were satisfied with their early efforts in reducing Hastings to 125-6 but a stand of 127 between James Chaplin and John Morgan swelled the total to 252-6 declared which left the home attack 54 overs to force victory.

Chaplin hit 100 not out off just 89 balls and Morgan an unbeaten 40.

Earlier Jason Finch made 54 and Richard Jackson 35 with Andy Wellfare and Mark Johnson each grabbing two wickets.

The visitors collapsed to 37-7 before a lusty 48 from Wellfare saved their blushes.

Morgan grabbed 5-26 to complete a good day and Andy Cornford had 3-23 to clinch victory for Hastings with St James's all out 86.

Brighton and Hove were thwarted by having to field and bowl with a wet ball at Horsham in another game limited to 100 overs.

The visitors batted first and made 239-8 declared led by 68 not out from Patrick Spencer and 50 from Andrew Perry.

For Horsham, Luke Marshall took 4-27 and there were two wickets apiece for Chris Baker and Tim Dodd.

Horsham then raced to victory from just 36 overs with Mark Sanders hitting 103 not out and Carl Hopkinson 59 as they reached 241-3.

Sussex bowler James Kirtley made a significant move in his comeback to first class cricket in taking 4-10 in 8.5 overs, of which six were maidens, to help Eastbourne dismiss Chichester for 78.

Teenage spinner Ollie Rayner was again in form and was rewarded with three of the remaining wickets.

Eastbourne then raced to victory at 82-0 as skipper Paul Stevens cracked 52 not out.

The match between Haywards Heath and Steyning was abandoned when a tropical storm flooded the ground 60 minutes before the scheduled start. This may be significant in the battle to avoid relegation as a win for Heath could well have put them in touch with Steyning, Chichester and St James's just above them.

EAST Grinstead continue to top the second division despite the frustration of rain in their game at Bexhill.

Grinstead, batting first, hit 242-7 declared.

Neil Turk was left stranded on 99 not out as they reached their maximum 54 overs.

Skipper Alex Edwards made 35 and Zimbabwean Donald Campbell 25 while, for Bexhill, Sam Roberts took 4-88. Bexhill were 8-0 when torrential rain ended play.

Preston Nomads found the Littlehampton batsmen full of patience but lacking in enterprise as they finished way short of their target with just two wickets down.

Nomads owed most to 101 not out from Steve Gatting and 35 from Imran Khan in a total of 226-4 declared.

Richard Vokes made 56 not out and Geoff Cole a laborious 35 in a Littlehampton total of 148-2 at stumps.

At Sidley, the home side achieved maximum batting points in a total 225-9 declared of which skipper Scott Woodroffe led the way with 58 and Jonathan Haffenden made 38.

It was all to no avail as the rain descended before Roffey could start their innings.

Umer de Alvis led the way for Roffey with fine of figures 6-72.