Chingford held by Shenfield

Shenfield won the toss and put Chingford into bat with the hosts posting a score of 264 for six, with Jay Edmonds (78) and Ben MacGregor (67) top-scoring.

Both batsmen were bowled by Mike Hindley, who took two for 36 runs from nine overs.

Hosts Shenfield responded by posting 245 for eight from 45 overs, with Thomas Fulk top-scoring with 65.

Jamie Walton (34) and Matthew Salisbury (24) were Shenfield’s next-highest run-scorers, with Chingford’s MacGregor starring with the ball as well as the bat, posting figures of five for 44 with eight maidens.

Wanstead & Snaresbrook failed to build on their victory over Brentwood the previous weekend, losing to South Woodford by 123 runs on Saturday.

South Woodford were put into bat after Wanstead won the toss and elected to bowl, putting up an impressive score of 232 for eight before declaring.

Opening batsman Nick Browne top-scored for the hosts, falling just one short of his century when he was bowled by Joe Ellis-Grewal, who took six for 70.

A further 40 from Kevin Sargent added to Woodford’s total before Ellis-Grewal got his third scalp leg before wicket.

Wanstead posted just 109 all out in response – Jonathan Das (25) and tail-ender Mohammed Fayyaz Khan (35) putting up the bulk of the visitors’ runs between them.

Harry Shirt was the pick of the Woodford bowlers, posting figures of four for 22.

Wanstead host Chingford on Saturday, while South Woodford head to Upminster.

Bottom-of-the-league Buckhurst Hill were beaten once again, comfortably overcome by Ilford, who took minimal effort to crush their visitors.

The hosts won the toss and decided to bowl first, putting Buckhurst Hill into bat.

Buckhurst posted a score of 172 all out with opener Hendro Puchert scoring 45 off 75 deliveries before being stumped.

Alexander Maskall (26) and Ian Russell (19) were the next highest scorers for Buckhurst, while Shahzad Hafeez claimed two for 24 from just 12 overs, recording four maidens in the process.

The Ilford response was quick and effective, taking just 40.5 overs to reach the required score of 173.

Opener Mazhar Malik gave Buckhurst false hope when he was caught by Jamie Allen off a Puchert delivery for just eight, but an unbeaten partnership of 158 from Nigel Jacobs (101) and Hameed Gul (47) saw Ilford ease to victory.

Next up for Buckhurst Hill is a visit from Chelmsford.

Division One Table-toppers Loughton comfortably beat bottom of the pile Fives & Heronians, claiming a six-wicket victory.

Put into bat after losing the toss, Fives & Heronians posted 147 all out with a knock of 34 from Gary Edwards – including three fours – leading the way.

Taqi Abbas took three for 23 for Loughton, with two maidens from his 9.3 overs.

Chasing 147, Loughton got off to the worst possible start when they lost openers Mohammed Hafeez (1) and Hamza Hussain (8) having faced just 24 balls between them.

Hafiz Yawar Azfal (73 not out) and Bilal Butt (42) went a long way to securing the winning total of 150 for four, both hitting boundaries en route to victory.

Johnny Kay was the best of the Fives & Heronians bowlers, with figures of two for 24 from seven overs.

Loughton host Hadleigh & Thundersley on Saturday, while Fives & Heronians travel to Hainault & Clayhall.

Woodford Wells thumped Ardleigh Green by ten wickets thanks to a superb opening partnership from Andrew Baars and Peter McDermott.

Winning the toss, Ardleigh Green elected to bat and posted a score of 191 for eight before declaring.

An unbeaten 41 from Martin Carson and 32 from opener Thomas Oakley had Ardleigh seemingly confident of victory.

Woodford’s Rory Ellison took three for 55, recording three maidens in his 17 overs.

With a target of 192, Baars (70) and McDermott (104) set about their task with minimum fuss, scoring 174 from 247 balls – including 16 fours between them – to claim a ten-wicket victory.

Next up for Woodford is a visit from Harold Wood.

Bottom-of-the-league Epping were beaten by 84 runs by fellow Division Three strugglers Benfleet, who posted an impressive 241 for seven.

Winning the toss, Benfleet opted to bat first and put up their sizeable score thanks largely to an unbeaten 108 from opener Graham Valentine.

Gary Whitbourn and Paul Frensham weighed in with 35 runs each as Epping’s William Beavers picked up three for 55 runs.

Epping came up short with a score of 157 all out – Nathan Onojaife top-scoring with an unbeaten 49 and Ahsan Muhammed Javaid chipping in with a further 30.

Craig Platt’s figures of three for 31 and Frensham’s three for 48 helped Benfleet record a comfortable victory.

Epping host Woodford Green on Saturday.

Second-bottom Woodford Green were beaten by 51 runs by Basildon & Pitsea, with only four Woodford players reaching double figures.

Basildon & Pitsea won the toss and elected to bat, posting a score of 229 for eight.

Opener Steven Ayres was bowled for a duck by the impressive Jagit Singh, before Lloyd Lambert stepped up to the crease with an important 93.

A middle-order batting collapse threatened to undo Lambert’s good work, before Luke Daw’s unbeaten 63 got Basildon moving once more.

Singh’s five for 38 was the highlight for Woodford, who saw Masood Qazi (73) and Anthony Palmer (28) top-score on their way to 178 all out.

Not to be upstaged by Singh, Daw claimed five for 54 after his vital 63 with the bat.

Second-placed Old Parkonians were beaten by strugglers Harlow Town, who won by four wickets.

Put into bat by Harlow, Parks posted 205 for nine with Shubhang Meta (50) and Janagan Vijayanathan (39) top-scoring for the hosts.

Shaun Alderson claimed three for 31 before Town claimed victory with 206 for six.

Ramya Upadhyay’s unbeaten 65 put Harlow well on their way to victory, with Bilal Ali (37) contributing also.

Having top-scored for his side, Meta claimed three for 48 as Parks were undone.

Old Parkonians take on Benfleet at home on Saturday.

League-leaders West Essex beat Pegasus & Corringham by five wickets, with Zia Anwar claiming four wickets for Essex.

Pegasus & Corringham won the toss and decided to bat, posting a total of 177 for seven.

Opener Paul Bennett was dismissed for just five, but the visitors recovered through Martin Sayer (48) and Robin Hutchinson (47).

The West Essex response was led by Irfan Riaz’s 67 – including five sixes and seven fours – while Sohaib Jan scored an unbeaten 37.

Danny Crow was the best of the Pegasus bowlers, taking one wicket for 13 runs in his two overs.

A trip to Harlow Town is next for West Essex.