WANSTEAD have been reeled in by Brentwood in the battle for the Essex Cricket Premier League title after being held to a draw by Colchester & East Essex at the weekend.

The Herons’ lead has been whittled down and they are now tied on 127 points at the top of the table.

John Chambers hit form once again, scoring his second century in successive weeks, and he was ably supported by half-centuries from Milan Patel and Merv Westfield (84) en route to an imposing total of 309. However, the bowlers could not match the effort of the batsmen, with Colchester easing to a draw.

Elsewhere, Woodford Wells are clipping at the heels of the leaders after they batted out a draw at Upminster.

The visitors were set the daunting task of reaching 348 for victory, but the batsmen stood firm and secured the draw thanks largely to Adam Wheater (61) and Dan Majeed (54).

Meanwhile, Loughton will be ruing their inability to claim the last two Chelmsford wickets that would have resulted in a well-deserved victory.

A terrific middle-order stand between Bilal Butt (92) and Shaun Gymer (79) looked to have set the team up for victory. But, despite Tony Palladino taking four wickets in the reply, Chelmsford’s lower order stood firm to deny Loughton.

South Woodford soared to the top of Division One with a superb backs-against-the-wall victory against Hadleigh & Thundersley.

The Highfield Road side were skittled out for just 187 in their innings, with Max Shirt (45) and Pratik Acharya (44) the only players to resist. However, where the batsmen failed the bowlers excelled, with Simon Correya taking five wickets and Nick Browne claiming four to complete a remarkable 47-run win.

In the same division, Chingford slipped to a heavy ten-wicket defeat at Shenfield. Only Alfie Taylor (40) resisted as the Kimberley Way side were hustled out for just 153, before the hosts’ opening pair knocked off the runs with ease.

Fives & Heronians blasted their way to victory over Hutton to move out of the relegation places.

The win owed much to two scintillating knocks from Gary Edwards (96 not out) and Irfan Ahmed (101), who propelled the team past the 264 target set by their hosts.

An impressive all-round display from Buckhurst Hill’s leading trio inspired their team to a victory that keeps their promotion push in Division Two well and truly alive.

The threesome of Rohan Bhome, Carlos Remy and Gordon Whorlow provided the batsmen and, as it turned out, themselves, with the platform to drive home the momentum and secure a valuable win.

Bhome led the charge with four wickets, while Remy snared three of the top four batsmen. Whorlow claimed two late victims.

The chase began well, with Whorlow (23) and Bhome (67) picking up from where they left off with the ball. Russell Beckett (53) and Remy (59 not out) both made half-centuries as Hill reached their target with three wickets to spare.

In Division Three, Walthamstow’s grip on the title tightened with a thumping win over local rivals Epping thanks, in large, to a stunning seven-wicket haul from captain Greg Harris.

Harris accounted for five of the top six batsmen as Epping were reduced to 109 all out.

Elsewhere, West Essex remain in the hunt for promotion after a comfortable five-wicket win over Belhus.

Z Nazir (3-72) was the pick of the bowlers and he went on to smash 69 runs with the bat to fire his team towards victory.

Meanwhile, Woodford Green are neck-and-neck with West Essex after a highly-impressive win over Old Brentwoods.

An incredible haul of six wickets from Ali Raza and a performance that yielded four wickets from Aamir Latif were the highlights.

Ongar registered a thumping 119-run victory over Billericay, with Jaswinder Chaggar (72), and Paul Stolworthy (60) starring with the bat as the team reached 286.

Elsewhere, Old Parkonians fell three wickets short of a win at the weekend, instead having to settle for a draw.