Burgess Hill are the new leaders of the Sussex Invitation League but only after sneaking a nail-biting victory over bottom side East Preston.

Hill skipper Paul Edwards was full of praise for the strugglers after his outfit recovered from 82-6 to reach 186-9 and clinch a one-wicket victory with only four balls remaining.

Edwards said: "It was a very close game and East Preston played particularly well. I am surprised they are bottom of the table and they could easily have won the game.

"Phil Price was outstanding for East Preston and hit 75 in their 182-7 and took a crucial couple of wickets."

Hill needed 101 off the last 18 overs with four wickets in hand but John Franks and John Holmes added 58 in 11 overs to turn things.

Clymping, with a free Saturday, slipped to second while Eastergate jumped four places to third after a six-wicket victory at Barns Green.

Roger Southgate top scored with 55 for Green in their 177-5 but fine innings from Mark Leach (63) and Justin Keene (41) steered Eastergate to 178-4 and success.

Champions Findon had a seven-wicket triumph over Crawley after Paul O'Sullivan (4-33) helped restrict the hosts to 128, Fallah-U-Din making 77. O'Sullivan then hit an unbeaten 58.

Findon's next opponents are Pagham, who slipped to a seven-wicket loss against Henfield after setting 195-8 (Alan Walsh 50) as Tim Parsons returned 5-63. Will Warne (63 not out) and Kevin Thorns (56 not out) made sure Henfield had no trouble overhauling the target.

Lindfield made 164 with John Sutton's 45 the pick of the batting as Paul Grennan wreaked havoc with 6-62. Southwick found it even harder to make runs as Phil Weir with 5-24 got among their batting and they held on for a draw at 105-8.

Richard Whitcomb took 5-60 as Ifield's 186 all out owed much to Graeme Dean's 84. Whitcomb then hit an unbeaten 73 in the reply with Nigel Scutt supporting with 51 in the six-wicket victory for Petworth Park.

Goring posted 139 with Jeff Scarfield (43) the mainstay of the batting as Neil Chitty took 4-42 for Arundel, who eased to a six-wicket win as Richard Diplock (55 not out) and Ryan Chitty (42) added 80 for the fourth wicket.

A sudden downpour before Ansty's home clash with local rivals Keymer and Hassocks washed out their fixture.

Second-placed Pulborough closed the gap on leaders Selsey after a seven-wicket win over Portslade who were skittled for 98 (Gary Clark 32) with Clint Astridge taking 4-16 including a hat-trick. Ashley Clark's 41 settled matters.

Selsey could only draw with Scaynes Hill as they made 133-8 in reply to the hosts' 183 which featured a useful 43 from Steven Hoadley. Wayne Emerson (4-43) made life difficult for the leaders as they had the worst of the draw.

Billinghurst also had to settle for a draw as Slinfold thwarted them to hang on at 81-9 in reply to the hosts' 173-7 in which Peter Burroughs hit 78. Martin Dibble took 4-11 but the victory the third-placed side wanted so badly remained just out of reach.

Ross Delahoy had a memorable match in Broadbridge Heath's six-wicket success over Rustington as he took 5-29 as the visitors struggled to 79 all out and then hit an unbeaten 54 to wrap up the win.

Storrington enjoyed a 100-run victory over Angmering Manor after setting 167-8 with Malcolm Carter making 52 and dismissing the visitors in style with Paul Smith grabbing 6-27.