HERTS AND ESSEX CRICKET LEAGUE

Division One

Ilford Catholic beat Hockerill by four wickets on Saturday.

Catholic bowled first and Mulholland (one for 24), Abdul Wahab (two for 14) and Nomi Qureshi (three for seven) helped skittle Hockerill for just 91.

In reply, Catholic lost Ed Tooth (two) and Abbas Saleem (one) in the first four overs but Sulosan Thiru and Abhas Vikram dug in against an accurate Hockerill bowling attack.

Thiru was bowled for seven but Vikram took the bowlers on with a classy 25 before he was caught behind.

At 40 for four, the game was still well balanced but Arul Gopalasamy (31) and Suleman Saleem (18 not out) took the game away from Hockerill with a 46-run partnership and Catholic soon reached the target to secure the win.

Catholic travel to Roding Valley this weekend.

Division Five

Ilford Catholic second XI beat North Weald by just one wicket on Saturday, with skipper Martin Riches holding his nerve to hit a four from the last ball of the game.

Catholic bowlers Anujan Thiru (one for 25) and Gowtham Rajasegaran (one for 29) returned excellent figures but the stand out bowler was Annanth Kumar, who finished with four wickets for 25 and helped restrict the batting side to 185 for eight after the allotted 45 overs.

In reply, Annanth Kumar and Bob Marsh took the attack to the bowlers and after six overs Catholic were 45 without loss with both batsmen capitalising on anything short.

Having lost Kumar, Sandeep Barot and Marsh (46) kept the score ticking before skipper Martin Riches and Mukhtiar Singh put on a partnership of 62, maintaining the run rate to keep Catholic in the game.

At the start of the 44th over with the score on 180, Singh was run out going for a second run to leave Catholic needing five from the last over. North Weald put the pressure on and Rajasegaran was run out, leaving Catholic needing four to win from the last ball.

With nine fielders on the boundary Riches (23) smashed a leg stump half-volley through a gap to win the game in remarkable fashion.

Catholic top the table and will look to continue their good start in Division Five this Saturday when they play Takeley at Barkingside Recreation Ground.