Pratik Acharya

South Woodford 95 all out beat Ilford 64 by 31 runs

South Woodford successfully defended a low total on a tricky wicket in Saturday’s derby match with Ilford in the Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division at Highfield Road.

The victory, South Woodford’s fourth of the campaign, continues their good start to the season which leaves them snapping at the heels of the top two. Whereas the loss for Ilford prolongs their recent bad run of results, that followed an impressive start to the season.

Ilford skipper Maz Malik won the toss and put South Woodford in. They appeared to have the upper hand as the attack, led by Theeban Tavarasa (6-17), restricted them to a modest total.

Yet in reply, the Ilford batsmen failed to post any sort of totals as Pratik Acharya (6-24) kept them pinned down.

“The pitch won that,” fixture secretary Tim Coe said. “It wasn’t venomous in any way. There wasn’t much sun and it was overcast. But it was getting a bit spongy and giving an uneven bounce.

“It was just a good all-round performance to win.

“We are where we want to be at this stage of the season and confidence is very high. We have several players coming back next week who have been away doing exams.”

Skipper Nick Browne (6), who had missed the previous week’s win over Woodford Wells due to duties at Essex, opened the batting, but didn’t last long as he was caught by Saf Imtiaz off Vilas Kutty (2-16).

Browne’s opening partner Michael Browne (2) also departed cheaply when caught by Abir Chippa off Kutty.

Ashley Leat (17) posted the first meaningful total and the middle order started to push the tally along with a series of solid displays with the bat.

Leat was the next to fall victim to Ilford’s impressive display in the field, that featured seven catches and a run out, when he was caught by Imtiaz off Tavarasa.

Imtiaz completed his hat-trick of catches when he caught Joe Craddock (9) off Khaleeq Malik (1-14).

Max Shirt (19) and top scorer Acharya (21) added runs, but proved to be no match for Tavarasa who proceeded to tear South Woodford’s batsmen apart, taking five wickets as the hosts were dismissed for 95 runs in 51 overs.

In reply, Ilford lost their first wicket cheaply when Nick Browne caught Gagan Bhogal (1) off Garry Neicho.

Acharya then set about the visiting batsmen, tearing through the top order as he took six wickets with Sohail Idrees (12) the only one of his victims to reach double figures.

Skipper Maz Malik attempted to inject some stability, only to be caught by Richard Browne off Nick Browne (1-6) for 11 runs. Their chase was concluded when Tavarasa (2) was run out. Kanishk Singh (15) finished unbeaten.