Third XI Premier Division

League-leaders Wanstead & Snaresbrook Thirds were held to a draw away to lowly Shenfield Thirds.

Wanstead won the toss and decided to bowl, a decision they perhaps later regretted as the home side cruised to 260 all out, despite Alan Lord taking four for 59.

In reply, opener Jay Williams laid a firm foundation for Wanstead’s chase with a cultured 74, while Steven Baldwin bolstered a flagging middle order with 61.

A tense finish saw victory elude Shenfield by one wicket and Wanstead by 12 runs as both teams took a share of the spoils.

Wanstead travel to Hainault & Clayhall Thirds on Saturday.

Woodford Wells Thirds hammered bottom-of-the-table Hutton Thirds by seven wickets.

Hutton were bowled out for 190 with Wells’ Albert Morgan (two for 21) and Thomas Clapham (two for 20) both excelling.

Mohammed Fahad then rescued a shaky start with a superb 93 not out which, combined with Chris Hamilton’s 58, took Wells to a comfortable win.

Wells are away on Saturday to Chelmsford Thirds.

Fives & Heronians Thirds lost to Upminster Thirds by six wickets after a disappointing batting performance.

After winning the toss, Fives were bowled out for a modest 141 with only William Samuel’s 38 really troubling the scoreboard.

That was too little to defend and while Sachin Bawa took two wickets in two overs for just three runs late on, the game was wrapped up and Upminster strolled to an easy win.

Fives are at home on Saturday to Shenfield Thirds.

South Woodford Thirds lost on their travels to high-flying Ilford Thirds by five wickets.

Choosing to bat first, the visitors were dismissed for a competitive 207 as Ravinder Singh hit 60 after opener Ryan Correya had just missed out on his half-century with 49.

South Woodford found it hard to trouble the Ilford batsmen however and Abrar Iqbal’s 107 set the home side up for victory.

Adam Overton and Nikhil Dattani took two wickets each as South Woodford now get ready to face Upminster on Saturday.

Third XI Division One

Wanstead & Snaresbrook Fourths closed the gap on Buckhurst Hill Thirds at the top of the table after beating Harold Wood by 21 runs.

David Gibbs put Wood’s bowling to the sword, hitting an excellent 132 from the top of the order to help Wanstead post 251 for eight.

Wood refused to keel over in reply but resolute bowling from Dev Patel (four for 68) and useful wickets from Ron Fitzgerald (three for 23) secured the win.

Wanstead are at home to Upminster Thirds on Saturday.

Their win was made all the more valuable after Buckhurst Hill Thirds slipped up away to Chelmsford Fourths.

The visitors were put in to bat and a good all-round performance saw eight manage double figures en route to 262 for eight. Shaid Mohammed (42), Ash Mohammed (41), Kalathinkal Sreejesh (41) and Mohammed Ali (40) all fell just short of half-centuries.

A strong batting display wasn’t matched in the field though, as a stubborn Chelmsford chase frustrated Buckhurst to just five wickets and the game ended in a draw.

Chingford Thirds were beaten by six wickets away to Brentwood Thirds despite a half-century from David Terrace.

He struck 52 before Jack Bassett scored an unbeaten 51 as Chingford set a reasonable target of 198 which could have been more given their wickets in hand.

Brentwood made the visitors pay on a good wicket, reaching the total for the loss of just four wickets.

Chingford are at home on Saturday to Chelmsford Fourths.

Third XI Division Two

West Essex Thirds beat Orsett Thirds thanks in part to an excellent bowling performance from Muhammad Soomro.

He took five for 45 from his 17.2 overs which included five maidens and helped restrict Orsett to a target of 167 all out.

In reply, West Essex surpassed that total for the loss of just three batsmen as Waqas Akhtar scored 54 and Azhar Ali made an unbeaten 64.

West Essex are at home on Saturday to Brentwood Fourths.

Loughton Thirds lost to league-leaders Harlow Thirds by four wickets despite opener Riki Laird scoring 91.

Laird’s contribution, as well as 40 from Hamza Omar, helped Loughton post 238 but Harlow’s talented batting order secured the win with relative ease.

Connor Sorrell and Ben Sly took two wickets each for the losing team, who play Southend-On-Sea Fourths on Saturday.

Third XI Division Three

Loughton Fourths kept in touch with the top of the table after a comprehensive win over Harlow Thirds.

Bowling first, Loughton dispatched Harlow for 150 as Alex Sweeting took four for 34 from his eight overs.

It took only one wicket for Loughton to reach the required runs as Naved Ali was caught two short of a half-century and Keiran Scarlioli was left unbeaten on 54.

Loughton are away to Gidea Park & Romford Fourths on Saturday.

South Woodford Fourths registered an emphatic victory over Benfleet Thirds.

Fielding first, Rohit Sohal, Gordon Clarke and Vishal Parmar all took three wickets each as Benfleet were dismissed for a mere 68.

Openers Carl Edmonds (16) and David Walcott (39) finished the job to confirm a ten-wicket win.

South Woodford are at home on Saturday to Harlow Town Thirds.