After the disappointment of defeat, it was back to winning ways for Wanstead & Snaresbrook in the Essex League Premier Division after a five-wicket victory over Shenfield.

The home side made early inroads with the ball to reduce Shenfield to 19-2 thanks to Zain Shahzad (2-39) and Suminda Balage Don (1-40) who dismissed Arshad Ali (0) and Jack Potticary (8) respectively.

An excellent partnership of 71 between Jack Kliber (76) and Alan Jones (24) rebuilt the innings only for the stand to be broken once the latter was run out by Adnan Akram.

Kliber played the anchor role for the Essex side with only Jamie Walton’s 21 offering anything in the way of solid support.

But when he was run out 24 runs short of his century by the superb Akram, the innings rapidly subsided from there.

Two wickets apiece from Joe Ellis-Grewal and Mohammed Fayyaz-Khan (both with 2-29) restricted Shenfield to 187 all out.

Wanstead were relatively comfortable in reply as Hassan Chowdhury (44) and Robin Das (36) led the charge to lead them to 108-2.

A brace from Mitchell Edwards (2-33) threatened to shift the balance, before captain Ellis-Grewal’s 30 and 27 from Akram saw them to victory and to within two points of leaders Hornchurch.

Chingford missed the chance to close the gap on the top two after being thrashed by 103 runs at home to Brentwood, who leapfrogged them into third.

Batting first, Brentwood suffered a premature setback as Harry Hobson fell off the bowling of Matt Smith (4-62) for 10.

However the game was taken away from Chingford courtesy of a magnificent 182-run partnership between Will Buttleman (92) and 88 from Guy Balmford.

A half-century from Aaron West (66) rubbed salt into the wounds as Smith claimed four of the five Brentwood scalps en route to 288-5.

Chingford’s did get off to a strong start in reply. A partnership of 80 between Alfie Taylor and Alex Agedah was broken by Ian Belchamber (2-49) who trapped the latter leg before wicket for 28.

Taylor subsequently reached his half-century, eventually making 69, before a flurry of dismissals saw Chingford’s hopes evaporate as they collapsed from 140-2 to 185 all out.

Brentwood shared the wickets as 2-21 from Ash Casey, 2-22 from Aaron West and 2-30 from Anthony Giles did the collective damage to consign the home side to a heavy defeat.

Ilford, meanwhile, are far from safe in seventh as their poor run continued with a 48-run home defeat to fellow strugglers Hadleigh & Thundersley.

The hosts began brightly with the ball, however, as Theeban Tavarasa (1-15) removed Brandon Jacobs for a third ball duck.

Further success followed as a mini collapse saw Hadleigh crumble from 39-1 to 80-5 thanks to two wickets from Arshad Haroon (2-39), and solitary wickets from Mohammad Ahktar (1-35) and Harsh Kumar (1-45).

Then came the crucial stand of 113 between Luke Smith (58 not out) and an unbeaten 54 from Max Holmes that propelled Hadleigh to 193-5 and something resembling a competitive total.

However, the Ilford reply suffered what would prove to be the fatal blow of losing their top three for just 24 runs.

They were 5-2 after losing openers Akash Raji for a duck and Ahktar for just one, and Saf Imtiaz soon joined them in the pavilion when he fell for six.

Star man Haider Ali Syed Zaidi then turned provider with the ball, claiming 4-34 and the run out of Ilford’s top scorer Hamza Muhammad for 27, to steer his side to a deserved victory as the home side finished on 145 all out.

Buckhurst Hill’s five-match winning streak in Division One is over after they slipped to a 77-run defeat on home soil against a Colchester and East Essex side who moved above their opponents into second.

Batting first, the Colchester innings was constructed around the exploits of captain Jake Foley’s rapid 77 off 58 balls alongside useful half-centuries from Josh Rymell (59) and 53 from Jack Hebron that took them to 271 all out.

Will Stoner took 2-23 but it was Irfan Sahar who took centre stage with the ball for Buckhurst to finish with impressive figures of 5-54.

Hill opener Hendro Puchert led a one-man charge with a superb 88 in reply, but four wickets from Simon Fernandes (4-45) and 2-33 from Taurai Muzarabani restricted the home side to 194.

There were better fortunes for basement dwellers Woodford Wells, meanwhile, as they claimed a vital seven-wicket victory over Gidea Park & Romford to move to within six points of safety.

Despite losing the toss, Wells made a good fist of it with the ball thanks to 3-38 from Viraj Ghandi and two wickets apiece from George Ellis (2-20) and Rehan Iqbal (2-22).

Gidea Park were limited to 208-9 with Jamal Francis leading the way for the home side with a well-constructed 53.

The chase was relatively comfortable for bottom-of-the-table Woodford though, despite the early setback of losing skipper Jonathan Gaffney for two.

Joe Johnson’s impressive 76 was ably backed up by George Styles (49) and 37 courtesy of Gareth James as they eventually reached their victory target with 7.4 overs remaining.

Loughton made it three wins on the spin in Division Two to secure a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Leigh-on-Sea.

The home side made regular breakthroughs as they chipped away at the Leigh scorecard, but not before a fine series of partnerships involving Dean Waller (52), Jon Edwards’ 31 and 30 from Jack Wagstaff threatened to build a commanding total.

Vishak Surendra (4-26) was the catalyst for the collapse as he took four quick wickets to help dismiss Leigh for 202.

Loughton made light work of that target in reply, reaching their target inside 28 overs thanks to a superb unbeaten century from Vibhor Yadav, who crashed 103 from just 65 balls.

He was well supported by Bilal Butt (51 not out) as the pair helped Loughton to a victory that strengthens their lead at the top of the table.

There were contrasting fortunes for South Woodford, however, as they suffered an agonising one-wicket defeat against Harlow that damages their hopes of gatecrashing the top two.

Batting first, Woodford made 230 thanks to 87 from wicket-keeper Jamie Carroll at number eight and contributions of 40 from Saihaj Jaspal and 33 from Michael Browne that helped them recover from a poor start.

Bradley Copper (5-36) starred with the ball for South Woodford to claim a five-fer and prevent none of Rehman Ahmed (49), Nicky Baxter (42) or Ryan Jessey (35) from kicking on.

However with all three scenarios still possible heading into the final over, Jake Messenger scored five from two balls to secure Harlow their victory off the final ball.

In Division Three, Woodford Green tasted victory for the second week running as they beat Westcliff-on-Sea by 15 runs in a low-scoring encounter to stay in touch with second-placed Benfleet.

Despite a series of promising starts, Green were unable to build a commanding total as regular wickets stunted their momentum.

A handful of scores in the mid-20s courtesy of Usman Azhar (27), Ashish Rai (22), Amrit Ryatt (21) and Jawwad Hussain (20) were all they could muster as they were bowled out for 158.

They made the perfect start with the ball, however, as Azhar (3-24) trapped Matt Renvoize leg before wicket for a golden duck.

Regular breakthroughs also arrived thanks to 3-27 from Hussnain Kazmi and Anshul Sharma’s 3-38 that saw Westcliff stumble from 100-4, and looking well set for victory, to 143 all out.

Walthamstow also continued their winning run as an eight-wicket success over Stanford-Le-Hope ensured they notched up a third victory on the spin.

The Buck Walk club were relentless with the ball to bowl out Stanford for 122 inside 30 overs, a score they never looked capable of defending.

George Evans claimed 4-52 and Asif Bala took an impressive 3-23 to do the bulk of the damage, as Matthew Higgins top-scored with an unbeaten 25.

Walthamstow captain Rory Knox led the way with 53 at the top of their innings, but Stanford hardly helped their cause with an erratic bowling performance to the tune of 31 extras.

Epping and West Essex were left frustrated after their match was abandoned due to inclement weather.

It was especially frustrating for visitors West Essex, as they were well on their way to victory before the conditions became unplayable.

Batting first they were bowled out for 193 inside 40 overs with an unbeaten 45 from Mohammed Zahour leading the way.

It was Javed Iqbal (5-45), however, who ripped through the top and middle order for Epping but the hosts were perilously close to defeat in reply.

Waqar Butt’s 3-24 and 2-31 from Jan did the damage, with Aswad Mohammed’s 33 providing a rearguard action as wickets tumbled.

But with the score on 86-6 and momentum with bottom club West Essex, the match ended in a no result.