Essex Premier League

Premier Division

Mohammed Fayyaz Khan’s five-for helped Wanstead and Snaresbrook maintain their 100 per cent start to the season, sneaking home by seven runs against Harold Wood on Saturday.

Having won the toss, Wanstead elected to bat first and were soon left ruing the decision when openers John Chambers and Arfan Akram both went for ducks within a delivery of one another.

Saurav Prabhakar was next to the crease, putting on 58 from 155 deliveries, before Hassan Chowdhury (33), Fayyaz Khan (36) and Mehad Khan (33 not out) helped boost the visitors’ total.

Closing on 215 for nine, Wanstead initially struggled to get stuck into Wood with openers Raihan Hussain (40) and Burhan Mahmood (71) putting on a stand of 91 for the opening wicket.

But Fayyaz Khan then took over, ripping through the middle order to finish with figures of five for 45 to leave the home side staggering towards Wanstead’s total.

Misem Ali Syed Zaidi (three for 65) completed the job, removing Wood for 208.

Rohan Bhome claimed seven for 37 as Buckhurst Hill snuck past Chingford by two wickets.

The visitors won the toss and opted to bat, making a steady start though Ben MacGregor (72). Jack Potticary (33) and Andrew MacGregor (24) weighed in further down the order.

But Chingford could not build on that momentum and were dismissed for 186; Bhome (seven for 37) the star of the show.

In reply, Mohib Shah (4) was caught early but Willem Scholtz’s 70 helped steady the ship for Buckhurst Hill.

The run scoring was far from consistent after that point, though late knocks of 17 and 22 respectively from Ricky Reynolds and Will Stoner were enough to see the hosts to 187 with two wickets in hand.

Jack Preddey’s three for 56 was not enough for Chingford.

Connor Sorrell returned figures of three for 21 but Loughton still came up short as they lost by six wickets at Ilford.

Inserted, Loughton showed signs of struggle from the outset and after finding themselves at 31 for two, Mahmad Ali Khail (31) provided a timely boost.

Ali Pasha (26) and Ben Sly (32) offered some resistance at the tail but the die was already cast and the away side were all out for 138.

Ilford were made to work for victory though, thanks largely to Sorrell’s bowling. But it was not enough as Hendro Puchert (35) and Shankar Gunalan (41) put on the key knocks to reach the necessary 141 for four.

South Woodford are bottom of the pile after a second defeat from two games, going down to a nine-wicket loss at home to Chelmsford.

The hosts lost Bradley Copper (7) early on but were back on track as Ashley Leat (67) and James Swash (55) paired up at the crease.

However, that fruitful partnership was all too short-lived. The middle order faltered and the tail followed, leaving South Woodford all out for 210.

Chelmsford’s reply was devastating. Krishan Vadher removed opener Rob Catchpole (14) but Aaron Beard (92 not out) and Nick Prowting (85 not out) retaliated in fine style to reach 214 for one.

Division One

Woodford Wells’ slow run-rate let them down as they succumbed to a two-wicket loss at home to Hornchurch.

The hosts declared on 210 for six but were made to pay for the slow rate of runs at the top of the order; Joe Johnson making nine from 23 deliveries and Ed Buxton five from 40.

However, William Rodgers (74) almost single-handedly did his bit to change that and was assisted by Maurice Chambers’ 30 from just 18 deliveries prior to declaration.

Hornchurch rode out an early wobble which had them at 75 for three following two quick wickets but were indebted to Max Osborne’s unbeaten 45 as they eventually reached 214 with two wickets to spare.

Rory Ellison (four for 67) did his bit to make life hard for the visitors but his economy of 4.46 was not cheap.

Division Two

Sarfaraz Ahmed’s five-for proved key as Fives and Heronians made light work of getting past Horndon on the Hill by eight wickets.

Ahmed (five for 40), along with Kishen Patel (two for 25), proved to be Horndon’s tormentors as the visitors were removed for 152. Jack Walsh managed 59 but Horndon had shown little staying power at the crease.

Garry Norris (52) and Gamindu Kanishka (34) then put together the runs required to seal a comprehensive victory, easing to 154 for the loss of just two wickets.

Division Three

Arshad Mughal claimed seven wickets as Oakfield Parkonians picked up a two-wicket win at Woodford Green.

The impressive Mughal (seven for 51) hardly let hosts Woodford settle before claiming his first victims, openers Hamza Hussain (11) and Anthony Palmer (2).

Sean Martin was given long enough to fetch 31 before Raghav Chopra (one for 22) struck.

Late runs from Mashood Qazi (44) and Muhammad Soomro (24) helped raise the score to 144 all out.

Faisal Bhatti’s 29 included five fours in response, though Qazi’s return of four for 50 threatened to unstable Parks.

However, the visitors got home thanks to the contributions of Ronan Karuna (31) and Usman Rafiq (25), reaching 145 with a pair of wickets in hand.

West Essex clung on to claim a draw their performance hardly merited at Walthamstow.

Put into bat, the home side scored consistently throughout the order en route to 214 for seven before declaring. Hamza Mahmood (67) hit five fours and three sixes as he top scored.

Only four West Essex batsmen made double figures in reply as Farhad Saleem (27) and Bilal Riaz (27) put up early scores which suggested the visitors would make a good fist of chasing down Walthamstow’s total.

However, Hamza Mahmood (three for 17) had other ideas and helped reduce West Essex to 139 for nine to scrape a draw.

Epping were left frustrated as they were held to a draw after failing to bowl out Westcliff-on-Sea.

Hosts Epping batted first and scored steadily.

Openers Asif Iqbal (34) and Amit Ojha (32) put on 53 for the opening wicket before Amir Khan (34) punched his way to a respectable knock.

Manan Patel provided the key knock with 50 before Epping declared on 239 for seven.

Westcliff batsman Adam Pickering hit back with a sharp 119 from 138 deliveries but the rest of their line-up failed to follow suit and, despite the best efforts of Yasin Vadasaria (three for 36), they held on to draw with 188 for eight.