Stanford le Hope CC 235-7 beat Wickford 183 all out by 52 runs.
After winning the toss on a fine summers day Stanford had no hesitation in electing to bat. Old stagers Duncan Page and Michael Gray opened together for the first time this season and set about their task looking to get the team off to a solid start. They shared a season best opening stand of 133, spinners Desai and Abbas bowled tirelessy in tandem as they looked for a breakthrough which they found in the 30th over when Page was caught by Alam off the bowling of Desai for a well made 57.
Fellow opener Gray (77) followed a few overs later and Wickford looked to turn things around with two new batsmen at the crease. From then on wickets fell at regular intervals as Stanford looked to keep the momentum going and add quick runs. Aussie Harry Maher (37) and Ross Poulton (31) made significant contributions in the latter overs as skipper Desai (4-94) & Abbas (3-72) tightened things up and at the end of their alloted 52 overs Stanford had made 235-7.
Early wickets with the new ball had been the key to the previous weeks successes and once again new ball pair Matt Higgins (2-8) and Greg Cohen (2-35) made early inroads and put Wickford on the backfoot at 34-4. Joe McIver (69) batted patiently and found an able partner in Greaves (37) as they added 100 for the 5th wicket but the introduction of Gary Sanderson soon changed the game around.
Sanderson picked up the key wicket of McIver courtesy of a stunning one handed catch from keeper Page. Wickford soon lost Greaves to the bowling of spinner Samwell and with the win still realistically in sight continued to look for boundaries. Sanderson however, was to prove the match winner as he bowled with good control and variation and cleaned up the tail to finish with the excellent figures of 5-12 and make it 3 wins on the bounce
