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CCA Senior Division 2

CITY of Ely fell just one run short of salvaging a draw against Wilbrahams on Saturday.

Bowling first, Ely’s six-man attack did a stand-out job of restricting the Wilbraham batsmen, though they struggled throughout the innings to take wickets.

Openers Toby Tippen (36) and George Moore (66) stayed at the crease for the majority of the innings but did not score quickly enough to accumulate a total big enough to worry Ely.

R Vinsett (1-24) and Chris Aniskowicz (1-19) managed to take a couple of late wickets as Wilbrahams finished on 137-2 at the close, albeit aided by a costly total of 29 extras.

Though Aniskowiczs Ed and Chris failed to really trouble the scorers at the top of the order for Ely, number three batsmen M Hatcher (52) more than made amends with some excellent strokes.

Unfortunately for Ely however, there was little in the way of support for Hatcher as only Henry Baker (26) and Ben Storey (22*) were able to make it into double figures.

Ely’s last wicket fell with 136 on the board, a single run short of their opponent’s total.

Cambs Premier League Division 2

FORDHAM came up marginally short against a clinical Cambridge NCI team at the weekend.

Tasked with bowling first, Fordham found life difficult from the outset and had to wait until NCI reached 75 before the first wicket fell.

NCI continued on undeterred however, and batted superbly to breeze past the 200-run mark, Sandeep Chauhan (68) leading the charge.

Mark Abbott (1-23) and Ian Jelleyman (1-28) were the leading lights in a difficult innings for Fordham that saw NCI post 258-5 at the close.

An inspired knock of 66 from Gavin Harding opening for Fordham proved the ideal tonic to a tough first innings, and a supporting knock of 30 from Graham Arnold seemed to set the visitors on the road to victory.

Joel Gilmour’s superb 65 added yet more weight to Fordham’s claim but the youngster quickly became short of batting partners as middle-order wickets began to tumble.

Nick Poole (19) and Chris Rule (12) fought desperately with the tail-end to keep Fordham in the match but even they eventually succumbed as the team collapsed from 193-5 to 232 all out.

CCA Division 2A

SOHAM remain rooted to the bottom of the league table after slipping to an 87-run loss at Needingworth.

Bowling first, Soham were quickly into a dominant position after removing the top four bastmen with a paltry 29 runs on the board, Ian Hobbs (2-29) doing much of the damage.

A monster 91-run stand for the fifth wicket turned the game on its head however, as Needingworth battled back to finish the innings on 189-6. Mark Sirot-Smith was the hero on the day for Needingworth with an undefeated knock of 86.

There was worse to come for Soham though, as opening bowler Mosan Khursid (30-5) ripped a hole through the home side’s lineup that saw them reduced to 16-5 inside the opening 10 overs.

A desperate stand between James Merry (20) and Matthew Fretwell (25) took Soham past the 100-mark but there wasn’t much left in the tank as they were dismissed for 102.

CCA Division 3A

AN exemplary bowling performance from Wilburton saw them score victory over a young Littleport side.

Batting first, Wilburton found life tough under pressure from their opponents and they were quickly in some trouble at 73-5 as Littleport dominated.

Callum Steel battled admirably to make 35 for the visitors, while Paul Dewey (25) and Ryan Newton (15) pitched in later in the innings.

Their efforts were no match for Littleport’s attack however, as they took the last wicket with a somewhat meagre 131 on the board.

Ben Shipp (4-29), Chris Farnell (2-16) and Jason Murfitt (2-19) all performed well for the home side.

Littleport lost wickets steadily to the five-man Wilburton attack in their reply and were in dire straits at 75-7 as Wilburton rampaged.

Dan Beavis (22) and Simon Jennings (25) stuck around gallantly for the home side but their determined play wasn’t enough to see off the Wilburton attack, with the last wicket falling as the score reached 98.

Marcus Brook (2-23), Darren Bentick (2-19), Steve Marshall (2-5) and Lee Newton (2-25) all enjoyed some excellent spells with the ball.

? HADDENHAM need just one more win to secure their third promotion in as many years after beating St Ives on Saturday.

Bowling first, a determined Haddenham side plugged away admirably against a resolute Ives attack, picking up regular wickets as they went.

Success was shared around among the bowling attack, with James Money picking up 3-35, Ian Jacobs 2-35 and Neil Smith and Chris Hughes taking a wicket apiece. Ives ended the innings on 170-9.

Keeping wickets in hand was key for Haddenham’s run chase and they managed it with aplomb as Jason Murfitt smashed 55 and his batting partner Ian Jacobs hit an undefeated 101 to guide Haddenham to victory in style.