Division One

Ilford Catholic’s batting line-up struggled to get going on Saturday as they fell 65 runs short of the target set by last year’s champions Theydon Bois.

Catholic bowled first and good spells from Vince Mulholland (one for 33), John Rogers (one for 30) and Abdul Wahab (two for 28) kept the run rate down.

However Catholic missed their chances in the field, allowing Theydon to build a competitive score of 160 on a damp track at Barkingside.

In reply, Catholic got off to a flying start, with Arul Gopalasamy smashing 22 in the first three overs but he was then trapped leg before wicket to DeAlmeida going for a big drive.

DeAlmeida went on to take four further wickets as Catholic were bowled out for a disappointing 95 runs.

Division Five

Ilford Catholic Seconds travelled to Matching Green on Saturday and maintained their 100 per cent winning start to the season with a 51-run victory.

Batting first, Catholic lost both openers Annanth Kumar and Bob Marsh cheaply but contributions from Sandeep Barot (23) and Sarankan Skandamoorthy (15) took the score to 50. A stand of 83 between captain Martin Riches (40) and Wesli Benjamin (36) helped Catholic finish on 187.

Slow opening bowler Mukhtiar Singh quickly reduced the home side to 11 for two with both dismissals caught behind by Riches for a duck.

A good partnership of 35 was ended when Annanth Kumar (two for 27) clean bowled Roos for 16 and at 90 for four, the game was evenly poised with Bibby still at the crease.

However, two quick wickets tipped the game back in Catholic’s favour and a magnificent diving catch by Mayur Bodakhe put Catholic back in charge.

Anujan Thiru returned to see Catholic to victory, finishing with figures of two for 20, including a great ball to dismiss the home skipper.

Catholic top the table with four wins out of four.

Ilford Catholic Thirds beat Alexandra Palace Fifths by three wickets in a friendly.

Bowling first, Catholic dismissed Palace cheaply for just 66 and despite making harder work of the chase than they would have liked, the Thirds reached their target for the loss of seven wickets.