CITY of Ely kicked their season off with an excellent seven-wicket victory over Wisbech II on Saturday.

Despite it being their first competitive outing of the year, Ely’s bowlers were razor sharp from the outset and proved just too good for Wisbech, who were below par with both bat and ball.

With most other fixtures falling foul of the weather, Ely were able to steal a march on their rivals, rocketing into first place in the Cambs Senior League Division 2 with a maximum haul of 20 points.

Bowling first, Ely’s two-pronged pace attack of Duncan Fraser and R Vinsett had the visitors top order rocking, with a series of streaky shots offering up simply catches for the fielders.

Vinsett claimed 3-22 from his seven overs while Fraser took 3-34 from a frigal 11-over spell.

Dom Stannard (27) attempt to pin Wisbech’s innings together in the middle order but his was almost a lone voice as Ely kept up their relentless pressure.

With the tail end quickly exposed, Ely’s Andrew Zajac was thrown the ball and he didn’t disappoint as he took 3-28 from seven overs to decimate what was left of the visiting lineup, with just 96 runs scored.

Ely’s Matthew Tonge (6) fell early in Ely’s reply but the disappointment of losing an opener cheaply was quickly abated by Thomas Beaumont (36*) and Chris Vinsett (34) who guided Ely to a commanding victory.

Wisbech’s Matthew Parrin Jnr (2-24) had some joy with the ball but lacked the support needed to trouble an assured Ely performance.