Westcliff on Sea 3rd 195 all out
Belhus 3rd 201-7
Stewart Farr and Brian Edwards turned this match on its head with a superb match-winning partnership worth 143 runs at Westcliff High School for Boys on Saturday afternoon. Staring down the barrel of a potential Shepherd Neame League defeat at 42 for the loss of five wickets, Edwards joined Farr to produce a run-fest. When Farr was eventually caught for 89 to end the pulsating pairing, Belhus required just eleven runs to win. When the scores became level, Edwards pulled the ball just forward of square for six to conclude both his personally tally with 56 not out and also the match itself. Pick of the Westcliff performances were Jeremy Lawford, 63 runs, and Alan Hurley with five wickets.
Benfleet 2nd 136 all out
Belhus 2nd 138-3
Connor Day bagged six wickets with five of his victims being clean bowled in this Shepherd Neame Essex League clash at Woodside Park on Saturday. Day’s 10.2 overs – two of which were maidens – cost just 23 runs. Jabir Iqbal picked up 2-36 from 16 overs (four maidens), while Imran Mohammed and Sam Hall were rewarded with one wicket each. For the home side, Rob Zammit top scored with 26. After tea, Ben Marns continued his good run of form with the bat until he was trapped leg before just two runs short of a deserving half century, while Charlie Lewis was cleaned out by Jamie Critchell (1-19), one short of the 50 mark. John Lewis and Roy Heffernan completed the job for Belhus with undefeated scores of 24 and 7 respectively.
Belhus 1st 228-8
Gidea Park and Romford 1st 229-2
Belhus captain Danny Joyce led from the front with a solid undefeated knock of 69 runs from 125 deliveries but it was not enough to stave off an eight-wicket loss at North Stifford on Saturday. Visiting captain Chris Collier hit 53 which included nine boundaries from 66 deliveries, while Matthew Tarr and Russ Collard saw the Gallows Corner club home with undefeated knocks of 49 and 40 respectively. Joe Joyce picked up both Park wickets to fall, but the most economical Belhus bowling performance in this Shepherd Neame Essex League division two match came from Billy Winter, whose eight tidy overs cost just 22 runs. For Gidea Park and Romford, Rudi Filmalter captured 4-35 from ten overs (two maidens). His victims included both Belhus openers, Gavin Jefferies and Michael Fogg for ten runs apiece, Ryan Wells without score and Belhus second top scorer Martin Guilbert for 34.
Ilford 4th 245-4
Belhus 4th 145 all out
The Belhus fourth eleven were outplayed in all departments by a much stronger Ilford team at Ockendon Recreation Ground on Saturday. Ilford’s opening batsmen, Abrar Iqbal and Faheem Aziz scored all but 45 runs of their team’s total as Iqbal was finally castled by John Forrest, just one short of a deserving century, while Aziz finished on 101 not out when the declaration came after 49.2 overs. Then, Naveed Mirza top scored for the home side with 26, until he offered a return catch to Iqbal, who came on as fourth change bowler and promptly helped himself to 4-31 from eleven overs, two of which were maidens. Visiting opening bowler Ahmedjan Bramkheil was equally troublesome with 3-19 from 8.5 overs, while Sajjad Ashraff, 2-36, and Sanan Ali, 1-20 from ten overs, wrapped up the proceedings.
