Essex's Kishen Velani inspired Wanstead and Snaresbrook to a seven-wicket win at South Woodford on Saturday

Wanstead and Snaresbrook got back on track after three consecutive league and cup defeats, easing to a seven-wicket win at South Woodford on Saturday thanks to a ton from Kishen Velani.

Having won the toss, the home side elected to bat first and were quickly reeling from a spate of wickets which left them at 24 for four.

Dane Watson (9), Harry Neicho (1), James Swash (4) and Michael Brown (0) were lost all too quickly with Zain Shahzad (five for 27) accounting for three of those dismissals.

A knock of 68 from Max Shirt, batting at four, went a long way towards steadying the innings before a flurry of runs in the middle order helped boost the South Woodford total to 200 all out.

Wanstead made a similarly unconvincing start to their innings and found themselves at six for two after losing opening pair Arfan Akram (6) and Jonathan Das (0) cheaply.

John Chambers (5) soon followed and there was suddenly cause for optimism among the South Woodford ranks.

However, that was short-lived once Hassan Chowdhury (82 not out) and Essex batsman Velani (103) settled into their rhythm, steering Wanstead to a winning total of 202 for three.

Velani’s innings was particularly impressive, hitting his ton from just 53 deliveries.

Rishi Patel and Bilal Butt put on the partnership which saw Loughton pick up a comfortable 98-run win at Harold Wood.

Electing to bat first, Loughton plodded along with Ubaid Ur Rehman Kiani (33), Matthew Schubert (17) and Mahmad Ali Khail (21) opening in steady if unspectacular fashion.

But Patel – 82 from 78 balls – and Butt – 91 from 70 deliveries – then came to the crease and the duo helped lift the Loughton innings with quick-fire knocks.

The rest of the order failed to fire though, and Loughton were eventually removed for 264 after 47.4 overs.

Harold Wood made a good start through Burhan Mahmood (53) and Raihan Hussain (39) but could not build on that momentum and were gradually undone by Andrew Bridges (four for 15).

Patel (two for 32) and Butt (two for 40) chipped in to remove the home side for 166.

Chris Baldock’s unbeaten half-century was not enough to prevent Chingford from slipping to a narrow seven-run defeat at Ilford.

The home side won the toss and opted to bat first. Hendro Puchert made 61 from 91 deliveries but a flurry of wickets helped restrict Ilford to 197 for six.

Alfie Taylor (two for 30) returned the best bowling figures for Chingford as the wickets were shared around. But chasing an attainable target, the visitors never recovered from a poor start.

With Daniel Lawrence (13) and Jack Potticary (7) removed, it fell to Baldock (50 not out) and Taylor (38) to provide Chingford with a sporting chance.

But the tail failed to build on their exploits and the visitors came up an agonising seven runs short.

A dire batting display saw Buckhurst Hill comfortably beaten by 78 runs at home to Brentwood.

The loss of two early wickets had left Brentwood on 29 for two but they refused to panic and eventually recovered to post a reasonable score.

Buckhurst Hill celebrate a wicket. Picture: Dave Loveday

Buckhurst Hill’s Willem Scholtz (three for 19) and Daniel Platt (three for 45) had success with the ball, bowling well to restrict the away side to a less-than-imperious total of 165 all out.

But Buckhurst Hill were even worse with the bat and the loss of Ian Russell (1) with just two runs on the board set the tone for a miserable afternoon.

Russell Beckett’s 16 made him the Buckhurst Hill top scorer as wickets fell at an alarming rate. Only Hermes Michael Solomonides (12) and Mohib Shah (11) reached double figures and the hosts were all out for just 87.

Buckhurst Hill bowler Willem Scholtz sees his delivery remove a wicket. Picture: Dave Loveday

Division Two

Fives and Heronians marched to an eight-wicket home win over Leigh on Sea with Selvam Ramasamy the star.

Ramasamy first excelled with the ball, snaring five for 28 from a ten-over stint to reduce Leigh on Sea to 182 all out.

Only Billy King (41) and Kevin Sargent (32) had got going for the visitors before Ramasamy and Sarfaraz Ahmed (three for 24) accounted for the duo.

Pete Kilpatrick got Fives off to the ideal start in reply by making 80 and his good work was continued by Gary Edwards (42 not out) and Gamindu Kanishka (44 not out); the duo driving Fives to a winning total of 184 for two.

Division Three

Tanvir Hasan helped himself to six wickets to steer Epping to a three-wicket success at home to West Essex.

West Essex were underwhelming with the bat after winning the toss, with openers Mubashir Javed (21) and Zia Anwar (25) failing to put together many runs at the top.

Mohammed Zahour (12) and Ahmed Baker (24) followed in a similar vein as Hasan (six for 24) claimed his first victims.

And that was a recurring theme throughout the innings as Hasan, along with Shrikant Shetty (two for 38), dominated proceedings, reducing the away side to 146 all out after 32.1 overs.

With that platform to build from Epping still made heavy weather of knocking off the required runs. Amit Ojha (6) and Manni Bawa (0) went early in what proved a false start.

Umesh Gadhvi (17), Rakesh Bagga (16), Sachin Bawa (16) and Tapan Patel (11) all followed and it looked as though Epping would blow their chance of victory.

However, 45 from Manan Patel finally got the home side over the line on 150 for seven.

Abdul Rehman Razzaq’s four-for for Oakfield Parkonians was enough to brush aside Walthamstow by 148 runs.

Put into bat, Parks made a bright start at the crease with Faisal Bhatti (22) and Sachin Vera (62) scoring well.

Their work was followed up by Haris Khan (45) at three, before Jibran Azam (45) and Glenn Sasikaren (64).

Paran Kalley (41 not out) then hit three fours from 38 deliveries to leave Oakfield Parkonians on a good total of 341 for six.

Razzaq (four for 43) and Raghav Chopra (two for 28) then got stuck into the Walthamstow line-up, removing wickets at regular intervals to leave the home side teetering.

Asif Bala’s unbeaten 87 was the only sign of any resistance and Parks were home inside 37 overs after removing their hosts for 193.

Half-centuries from Hamaad Sayyed and Anthony Palmer laid on a six-wicket home win for Woodford Green against Benfleet.

Benfleet won the toss but were afforded little – if any – margin for error as Woodford Green’s Haroon Hafeez (four for 25) got stuck into their line-up with great gusto.

With both openers out having done minimal damage, Hafeez combined effectively with Zubair Bhatti (two for 32) to rattle through the remainder of the Benfleet line-up and remove the away side for 162.

The Woodford Green reply centred on the knocks of Sayyed (52) and Palmer (50), the duo by far the most effective of the hosts’ batsmen.

Saad Ijaz (13) was the only other Green player to reach double figures but it mattered little as the home side strolled to 163 for four.