Wanstead & Snaresbrook dug out a two-wicket win over Buckhurst Hill to maintain their title hopes

Wanstead and Snaresbrook had to dig deep to pick up a two-wicket home win over Buckhurst Hill on Saturday, Jonathan Das’ late knock of 71 proving pivotal in a victory which keeps them in title contention.

Currently third in the top flight, Wanstead are eight-points shy of the leading two but this victory showed resilience as the home side overcame a sluggish start with the bat to pick up another win.

Visitors Buckhurst won the toss and elected to bat. Openers Ian Russell (35) and Russell Beckett (20) made solid, if unspectacular, starts before Alexander Maskell (39) chipped in at three.

Raymond Parkinson (41), Darren Ironside (31) and Will Stoner (21) made good contributions from the middle order and at 204 for six, Hill looked strong. But the tail failed and the away side eventually closed on 221 for eight.

Wanstead’s usually reliable openers failed to find their normal fluency at the crease and Arfan Akram (39) and Zain Shahzad (1) were soon removed.

Struggling on 46 for three, it looked like it would be a long afternoon for the home side.

However, Das came to the rescue and hit a crucial 71 not out to get the hosts home with two wickets and four balls to spare.

A below-par batting performance saw South Woodford comfortably beaten by seven-wickets at home to Brentwood.

Batting first, hosts South Woodford got off to an inauspicious start as openers Dane Watson (11) and Louis Cant (4) were both removed cheaply.

James Swash (0) and Harry Neicho (11) soon followed and it was not until Richard Browne (23) came to the crease that the home side appeared to get going.

Browne’s knock was a false dawn though, and although Harry Shirt made an unbeaten 41 they were skittled for 132.

Brentwood then made light work of knocking off the required runs, with Tom Oakley making 75 to steer the away side to the total of 132 for three.

Chingford's Mubasher Hasan bowling. Picture: Dave Loveday

Chris Baldock led the way with a half-century to steer Chingford to a one-wicket win at Loughton, who are themselves glancing anxiously over their shoulder.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, Loughton struggled to score runs consistently. Matthew Schubert (37) and Rishi Patel (34) made a reasonable start after the first wicket fell with just seven runs on the board.

But the runs failed to flow thanks to the bowling of Mubasher Hassan (3-35), and only 41 from Daniel Gymer nudged the hosts to 195 all out.

Jack Potticary (20) and Alfie Taylor (2) made a far-from-ideal start with the bat for Chingford, who were indebted to Chris Baldock’s 50. Andrew MacGregor (30) and Liam Lannen (20 not out) got in on the act to help the away side hit 199 for nine and seal the victory.

Division One

Brenton Thompson’s knock of 76 provided the highlight on a disappointing afternoon for Woodford Wells which saw the side lose by seven wickets at Orsett.

Alongside Joe Johnson (21), Thompson had Wells off to an ideal footing. Peter McDermott, at three, got a start but could only add another 21 runs to the total batting at three.

From there though, the innings fell apart and only one more batsman – Christian Hall (11) – even made double figures as the away side slumped to a hugely disappointing total of 173 all out after 42.4 overs.

Orsett’s Ryan Plom opened with an unbeaten 85 and his success with the bat inspired the home side to reach 174 with seven wickets in hand inside 40 overs.

Division Two

Fives and Heronians took another sizeable step towards promotion after galloping to a nine-wicket win at Gidea Park & Romford with Terry Ballard hitting 84 from 58 balls.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first. However, they stood little chance up against the in-form Gamindu Kanishka (3-21), Ali Raza (2-5) and Selvan Ramasamy (2-19), who combined with devastating effect.

The hosts were 53 for three and before long they were wobbling on 59 for six. A late flurry of runs steadied the ship though, and Gidea Park were eventually all out for just 147.

Fives made minimal fuss of chasing down that total, with Gary Edwards (29 not out) and Ballard (84) all getting starts to steer the visitors to 149 for one.

Division Three

West Essex suffered a damaging defeat in their battle against relegation, going down by seven-wickets at home to Old Southendian and Southchurch.

The loss leaves them in the relegation zone and 33 points from safety after they were all out for just 153 in a mere 29.4 overs with Mubashir Javed top scoring on 27.

Old Southendian managed to wrap up the points with 154 for three after 36.3 overs.

Epping put some much-needed distance between themselves and the relegation zone with a comfortable seven-wicket home win over Old Brentwoods.

The away side batted first after winning the toss and failed to build on a good start at the crease, slumping to 170 all out as Asif Iqbal (5-32) and Manan Patel (4-18) found repeated success with the ball.

Patel then starred with the bat making 88 to inspire Epping to the necessary total of 181 for three from 26.4 overs. Victory leaves the third-bottom side 32 points clear of the drop zone.

Woodford Green edged out Westcliff-on-Sea by three-wickets with Anthony Palmer top scoring with 79.

Hosts Westcliff made a bright start with the bat but were restricted well by the impressive Sean Martin, who returned figures of 3-49 to prevent Woodford getting any further than 254 for five.

Woodford Green were sluggish to begin with as they got their innings underway and it fell to Palmer, batting at five, to thrash 11 fours from 101 balls and help deliver a victorious total of 255 for seven.

Oakfield Parkonians snuck a 32-run home win over Benfleet which keeps them very much on-track for promotion.

Second in the table and 18 points off of top spot, Parks put up a total of 228 all out after batting first before removing their guests for 196.