Second XI Premier Division

Wanstead and Snaresbrook Seconds eased to a seven-wicket win at Chingford Seconds with Saurav Prabhakar unbeaten on 76.

Top of the pile and in formidable form, Wanstead elected to field after winning the toss. Chingford made a steady if unspectacular start with Paul Shawyer (37) and Adil Daniyal (15).

Further down the order Alex Agedah (39) and Malik Kashif Jamal (30) had a good union going before the latter was lost to a run out.

Prabhakar returned the best bowling figures for Wanstead, with three for 19, to remove the home side for 204.

He then took that form into bat too and was unbeaten alongside Mahesh Velani (52); the duo providing the backbone of the Wanstead innings.

Ishmael Dar added 44 and the away side hit 205 with seven wickets in the bank.

South Woodford Seconds’ task gets harder by the week and a draw at Woodford Wells Seconds did their survival hopes little good.

Despite being bottom of the standings and 39 points from safety, Woodford looked to be in a good position to wrap up the win after posting 231 for five (declared) from their innings.

James Malin opened inauspiciously with a knock of 11 but partner Indika Wickramaratne (74) fared rather better.

Simon Correya topped that score with 82 and was supported by an unbeaten 34 from Omer Qureshi.

Inquiyad Chowdhury (three for 39) returned the best bowling figures for Wells, who would have been relieved to see their visitors halted on 231.

Tomas Corbyn (55) and James Lever (25) made a reasonable start to the Wells’ reply before Robert Leiper chipped in with 33.

From there, though, the runs dried up as Correya (four for 28) enjoyed success with the ball, recording eight maidens from his 19 overs.

Eight wickets down, Wells held firm and clinched the draw with 178 for eight.

Second XI Division One

Loughton Seconds boosted their survival hopes with a four-wicket success at home to Hainault and Clayhall third, inspired by Jordan Ramsden’s four wickets.

Having inserted their visitors after winning the toss, it was Ramsden who removed openers Hussain Ali (26) and Hassan Saleemi (37).

Only one other Hainault batsman even made it to double figures as Connor Sorrell (two for 17) and Abdul Nasir (two for 31) helped restrict the visitors to 150 all out from 37.4 overs.

Ashfaq Parvez (21) and Fahad Anwar (5) got the Loughton innings off to a stuttering start before Tom Turner (38) hit his stride.

Samir Mohammed (22) and Lewis Scott (22) also made invaluable contributions as the hosts made the points safe with a score of 151 for six.

Buckhurst Hill Seconds kept their title hopes on track with a six-wicket home win against promotion rivals Hutton Seconds.

Second with four to play, Buckhurst are just four points shy of Ilford at the summit and eight clear of Hutton in third.

Hutton elected to bat first but could not overcome a poor start which saw the first three batsmen removed by Joe Murphy (three for 19) with just 15 runs on the board.

Alexander Pearce (45) got the Hutton innings going but the rest of the side could not build on his efforts and were removed for 165 with Hermes Michael Solomonides taking three for 12.

Ricky Reynolds (55) and Ian Russell (73) then steered Buckhurst Hill to the points with a handy pairing which saw the hosts make it to 166 with six wickets in hand.

Fives and Heronians Seconds will have to mount a run of form which belies that they have shown to date in order to avoid relegation after a five-wicket loss at Ilford Seconds.

Last in the league standings, winless and 70 points from safety, Fives look dead-and-buried after their latest loss.

Batting first after winning the toss, Fives made an encouraging start as Steven Doig hit a half-century. A further 99 not out from James McKay provided further cause for optimism before the wickets began to fall.

Abbas Mirza chipped in with 23 before Fives finally caved and were removed for 219 in the 57th over.

Ilford wrapped up the win after 35 overs, hitting 220 with five wickets fallen.

Second XI Division Two

West Essex Seconds kept their automatic promotion hopes alive with a five-wicket win at Harlow Town.

Harlow batted first and were in real trouble at 24 for four as West Essex’s Rehan Shamim (five for 49) found his rhythm early to snare the first two wickets.

Shamim continued in that vein and although a couple of lower-order knocks boosted Harlow’s total, they could only close on 201 for nine.

Sohaib Jan (80 not out) and Kabir Khan (43) then laid on the runs for West Essex following a disappointing start to the innings, safely navigating the away side to a winning score of 203 for five.

Second XI Division Three

Centuries from Sachin Vera and Dhruv Patel helped Oakfield Parkonians Seconds crush Basildon and Pitsea Seconds by 175 runs.

Vara (114) and Patel (107) opened the batting and laid down an imperious marker for the home side. James Foley (44) then enhanced the Parks’ total to take the hosts up to a mammoth 282 for four before declaring after just 34 overs.

Facing the task of trying to salvage a draw, Basildon did not last long before they were removed for just 107 by the bowling of Sifth Ali (three for 15) and Anujan Thiru (three for 22). Vara also returned impressive figures, taking two for just three runs in two overs.

Winless Epping Seconds slumped to a two-wicket defeat against ten-man Ardleigh Green and look destined for the drop.

Eighty-six points from safety, Epping made just 130 in their innings with the contributions of Waqar Yusuf (34) and Sandeep Shetty (23) the most significant.

Ardleigh Green still made hard work of sealing the win but did so after 43 overs by reaching 134 for eight. Shikrant Shetty (six for 56) was the main reason for Ardleigh’s underwhelming batting display but his efforts proved in vain.