Buckhurst Hill Seconds took on Hainualt & Clayhall who had recently been relegated from the Premier Division.

The side were asked to field and the opening bowlers of Dan Platt and Shahid Mann both found their rhythm. They were backed up by Joe Slisz and the spin of Sandeep Singh, who finished up with three for 49. However a couple of late blows from the lower order got Hainualt up to 165 for eight off their 52 overs.

The reply got off to a shaky start with Alex Maskell falling early. But Ricky Reynolds and Jamie Allen worked the ball around to take the score past 100. Allen was run out for 50 and the skipper hauled out for 64.

It was down to new boy Ajit Ramasagaram to hit the winning runs finishing off with an impressive 36 not out, chasing the total down in the 42nd over.

After a delayed start to the season Buckhurst Hill Thirds hosted Hornchurch Fourths who were also promoted last year from Division Three.

Having the lost the toss, Hornchurch were asked to bat and were soon in trouble on a slow track. Opening bowlers John Palmer and Leslie Richards both took an early wicket, and despite some lusty hitting, wickets fell regularly throughout the innings and Hornchurch were eventually dismissed for 171 in only the 33rd over. Key performer with the ball was Ali Azad, who took six for 57 from 11 overs.

In reply, the lack of pre-season cricket of any sort cost BHCC quick early wickets and they were on 20 for four after ten overs. Azad, who backed up his fine form with by scoring 42 with the bat, in partnerships with Aniket Patel and Simon Bance gave Buckhurst Hill a sniff of a chance, but lack of form and poor shot selection haunted the local side and they were eventually all out for 140, losing by 31 runs.

The team will hope to reverse that result and get their first win on the board this Saturday when they travel to Harlow.

Buckhurst Hill Fourths batted first against Hornchurch and scored 267 for nine declared with Atul Sharma scoring a career best 131 in a glorious knock.

He was well supported by Ash and Sadiq Mahommed who contributed 31 each in a big first innings score.

The Hornchurch batsmen dug in until Phil Mitchell spun out the top order taking three for nine. All the other bowlers chipped in taking regular wickets and Hornchurch were bowled out for 105.

Ilford Catholic remain top of Herts and Essex Division One after a five-wicket victory over Bishop's Stortford Thirds.

Stortford batted first and Ravi Ramanuja and Vince Mulholland contained the batsmen well. Vince Mulholland's second spell brought a series of wickets, including a unplayable incutter to clip the leg stump of Turner.

Mulholland's double wicket maiden stemmed the flow of runs and Storford finished their innings on 164 for eight. Mulholland finished on four for 17.

Mulholland began the reply and took the score to 38. Both Abbas Saleem (43) and Suleman (23) showed excellent timing and ran agressively between the wickets.

Their partnership of 65 in quick time took the game away from Stortford and with some late blows from Abdul Wahab and Saravana Subramani Catholics were home and dry with six overs to spare. In the 20/20 Cup, Ilford Catholics beat South Loughton in the last over by four wickets with Subramani smashing 20 off just seven balls to secure victory.

Skipper Ryan Naylor picked up two wickets as South Loughton closed their innings on 101 for eight. Saleem and Madhavan Bakthavatchalam both made valuable contributions but the run rate climbed to seven per over and with the light fading and the field set deep runs were hard to come by.

Martin Riches entered the fray and scored a vital nine from eight balls leaving 22 runs required from the last two overs.

With 22 needed from the last two overs in the fading light the game looked to be heading away from the Catholics. However Subramani's heroics booked a tie against either Matching Green or Theydon Bois in the next round.

Ilford Catholic Seconds recorded a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Thorley on Saturday. Bowling first, debutant Imdad Hussain ran out the Thorley opener, and 14-year-old Anujan Thiru bowled an economical spell.

Mukhtiar Singh was the pick of the Catholic acttack picking up four wickets for just 22 runs from his ten overs. Catholic's tight fielding proved to be key with two catches from Senthu in the field and a skier neatly taken by Bakthavatchalam to dismiss Bob Mills (24) who was Thorley's main threat.

Change bowlers Senthu and Kevin Anthony picked up two wickets each and Thorley were bowled out for 64 in 24 overs.

In reply, Annanth Kumar and Martin Riches played positively and put on 42 before Kumar departed for 24. Fernando was dismissed for one but Madhavan Bakthavatchalam and Riches saw Catholic over the line reaching the required runs in 14 overs, Riches finishing on 27 not out.

The win puts Catholic top of Divison Six and next week they travel to North Weald.

Ilford Catholic Thirds fell three runs short in a close 20/20 match against North Two on Saturday.

North Two batted first and made a good start racing to 25 without loss. However Catholic made a breakthrough with 13-year-old Rohit Rajasegaran picking up two wickets and featuring in an excellent run out.

Debutant Mohammed Zaman made an immediate impact with two quick stumpings and a brilliant take behind the stumps. John Rogers and captain Dave Revell bowled the last four overs for just nine runs keeping North Two to 98 from their 20 overs.

In reply, North Two's pacemen put the Catholics batsmen to the sword with 12-year-old Smaran Thirunagari bravely weathering the storm to feature in a six over partnership with Revell.

John Rogers then joined Revell for a 50-run partnership before Revell fell for 24 and Rogers 34. Some late hitting from Ajay Patel, Rajasegaran, and Zaman took Catholic close but they eventually fell just short.