Division One

Ilford Catholic lost to Hockerill by four wickets on a good batting track on Saturday in Division One of the Herts and Essex Cricket League.

Catholic batted first but the top order were dismissed in quick succession with Tooth (25), Naylor (9) and Abbas Saleem (0) all falling cheaply.

Middle-order batsmen Suleman Saleem and Vince Mulholland rebuilt the Catholic innings with an excellent stand of 144 to take their side past 185.

Saleem was the first to go, caught on the boundary for 76, an innings which included 12 fours.

Mulholland also reached 70 before he was bowled by Dewey (five for 47) but Arul Gopalasamy added a quick 22 at the end to take Catholic to 235 from 40 overs.

In reply, Hockerill’s Anthony Challis took the attack to Catholic, making a quick 57, including five sixes.

Young Louis Morgan, on his first-team debut, bowled a tidy spell of five overs for 30 and was well supported by Oliver Graham (one for 25).

Challis eventually fell to Graham but Bradley Francis put together a solid knock of 55 to keep Hockerill in the game.

A great catch from Mulholland at long on accounted for Francis but Hockerill kept scoring at the required rate and eventually knocked off the runs with four overs to spare.

Division Five

Ilford Catholic Seconds pulled off an emphatic eight-wicket win against their closest rivals, North Weald Seconds.

Winning the toss, Catholic had no hesitation in electing to bat on a hard track and fast outfield.

Opening bowlers Anujan Thiru (three for 20) and Mukhtiar Singh (two for 27) carried on their excellent form this season to leave North Weald one for two.

North Weald recovered slightly but were still in trouble as they were bowled out for 100.

Catholic openers Annanth Kumar (52) and Bob Marsh put on 25 for the first wicket. Kumar was then joined by Sulosan Thiru (23 not out) and they scored 48 in just over five overs, including six fours and two huge sixes from Kumar.

With the score on 73, Sarankan Skandamoorthy (ten not out) joined Sulosan and they shared an unbroken stand of 31 with some excellent running between the wickets.

Skandamoorthy hit the winning four off the last ball of the 17th over, with extras of 19 taking the final score to 104 for two to secure the win.