Ilford Catholic moved back up to second place in the Herts and Essex Cricket League First Division after a six-wicket win against Bishop Stortford Thirds on Saturday.

Bishop Stortford batted first and Catholic got off to a great start with Vince Mulholland dismissing opener Sewell for four, caught by Suleman Saleem. Stortford's Sumner added some useful runs with Turner until the latter was out for 12, with Catholic spinners Ramanuja and Qureshi stemming the flow of runs. 

Qureshi bagged the wicket of Sumner, well caught by Sulosan Thiru in the covers for 25 and Catholic were in the driving seat with Stortford reeling at 58 for five. However Stortford's Alex Palmer came to the crease and with some powerful hitting boosted Storford's score. 

Palmer was well on his way to a half-century until he was bowled by Ryan Naylor for 44.  Stortford were six down but the tail wagged and useful contributions from A Sewell (14) and Cheema (24) pushed their score on to 175 for eight from their 45 overs.

In reply, Sulosan Thiru and Ed Tooth got off to a good start putting on 38 for the first wicket until Thiru was run out going for a tight second run from a good throw from Palmer. Vince Mulholland was caught from the bowling of Wacey which brought Ryan Naylor to the crease and he joined Tooth for a partnership of 49. 

Stortford's Wacey bowled a good line and length and kept the runs down and at 96 for three Catholic still had some work to do.  Naylor was caught at slip off the leg spin of Palmer for a useful 24.  Suleman Saleem then came to the wicket and immediately made an impact smashing Palmer for 12 off one over and hitting Hughes out of the ground for a magnificent six.

Tooth was trapped LBW by Williams for 51 and Annanth Kumar (23) joined Saleem to build a 53-run partnership with Saleem’s explosive 36 not out wrapping up the game with seven overs to spare. Catholic face league leaders Theydon Bois away this weekend.

Ilford Catholic Seconds beat Thorley Seconds by 80 runs to maintain their lead at the top of Division Six.

Catholic batted first and set about building a competitive total with Aditya Panoli continuing his great run of form with an excellent 70.  With support from the middle order, Panoli held the innings together and Catholic finished on 216 for five from the 45 overs. 

Thorley’s Micky Dellow was the pick of the opposition bowlers with three for 43 from his ten over spell.

In reply, Catholic got off to a great start and Thorley lost their first two wickets with just six on the board. Despite resistance from Pete Phillips, who scored an excellent 71, none of the Thorley batsmen could offer support, with extras being the second top score with 22. 

Teenage paceman Anujan Thiru gave the Thorley batsmen a torrid time and bowled with the usual nagging line and length, building pressure and taking wickets regularly, finishing with figures of three for 16 from his ten overs.
Catholic face second-placed North Weald at Barkingside Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Ilford Catholic lost to Capricorn by 12 runs on Sunday at Barkingside Recreation Ground.

Capricorn batted first and immediately went for their shots and began to amass a competitive total.  Catholic bowlers Mayur Bodhake and Sandeep Aithal both picked up three wickets each in their spells to chip away at the Capricorn line up. 

The first female player ever to play for the Catholics, Sydnie Naylor, bowled three excellent overs marking a historic day for the club. Patel top scored for Capricorn with 52 and Capricorn finished on 208 all out.

In reply, Aditya Panoli continued from his innings the previous day with more runs this time smashing an excellent 47 and, together with Sandeep Aithal (47), they built the score nicely. 

However both fell just short of their half centuries and the Catholic middle order never got going and with wickets consistently falling. A late flurry of runs from Mohammed Zaman (20 not out) kept Catholic in the game but eventually they fell 12 runs short.