Ilford Catholics saw a number of their fixtures washed out due to the weather conditions once again meaning the first and thirds didn’t play but the seconds mustered up a victory.
They sealed a four-wicket victory over Stock in less than ideal conditions for cricket.
Skipper Bala Rajagopal won the toss and put Stock in to bat where Hari Perumal Rajan (0-37) and Suhas Sawant (1-26) bowled well to control the scoring.
Pavan Kumar ’s (1-23) initial breakthrough was capitalised on effectively by debutant Dinesh Kumar (4-43) who ran through the host’s middle order with some consistent bowling.
Chris Want and a late flourish from youngster Jack Williams (32) helped the hosts set a target of 174.
For Catholic, Ruhul Chowdhury (47) began with his usual flurry of boundaries, however wickets fell regularly at the other end.
Lingam Ramasamy (29) and Sivakumar Venkatesan (39*) steadied the ship while keeping up with the asking rate.
Returning drizzle brought some jitters for a brief while, but Siva, with able support from Pavan (21) unleashed some cracking strokes towards the end to seal victory.
The fourths also grabbed a victory as they beat Tillingham by 25 runs.
After winning the toss, Tillingham elected to field first, and Catholic openers Dave Hobbs and Karan Shah put on a 27-run partnership.
Hobbs (23) was joined by Islam Maraz (24) and they put on 42 before Jeevakan Kumar (17) and Ragesh Rangaswamy (23*) added another 42-run partnership before Kumar was run out.
Rangaswamy remained unbeaten as Ilford finished on 117-5 in 35 overs and Sunny Kuruvilla (2-17) struck in the first over after tea, removing Alfie Bailey for four thanks to a sharp slip catch by Phillips.
Manish Jha (2-13) operated with consistency at the other end as Tillingham started to lose wickets.
Venusharan Krishnakumar ended up as pick of the bowlers with 3-8 in six overs, supported by Chintan Shah (0-19) as Tillingham came up short of their target.
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