Cricket CCA Senior Division 2

ELY’S promising start to the season continued to gather pace as they picked up a two-wicket win over Chatteris on Saturday.

Despite being far from their best with the bat, Ely were able to call upon their considerable experience throughout their order to chase down 133 for the win.

The victory sees Ed Aniskowicz’s men move up into third place in Division 2, with four wins from five completed matches, and are due to take on league-leaders Burwell on Saturday.

Bowling first at the Paradise Centre Ground, Ely started superbly, with openers Duncan Fraser and R Vinsett nipping out the Chatteris opening pair for ducks.

Number four Anthony Bamford (36) played superbly to halt Ely’s progress and Matt Hollis (29) and Paul Foster (25) chipped in with runs in the middle order to get Chatteris’s innings back on track.

Ely’s Oliver Sellers hit back with a seven-over blitz that yielded three wickets for 20 runs but a haul of 27 extras conceded by the home side helped inflate Chatteris’s total on to 133-9 at the close of the innings.

Andrew Zajac (2-22) and Duncan Fraser (2-25) performed well with the ball for Ely.

Requiring little more than three runs-per-over for the win, Ely openers Thomas Beaumont (22) and Jonny Wallace (31) started superbly, building a good platform for the hosts.

Only captain Aniskowicz (22) had anything to show for his efforts among the next six batsmen, with the Chatteris bowlers enjoying continued success.

The arrival of Duncan Fraser at the crease rescued the match for Ely however, the tail-ender top-scoring with a fine unbeaten 34 to guide his side to an unlikely victory with two wickets still in hand.

Chatteris paceman Peter Munns was the destroyer-in-chief for the home side, picking up 4-17 from 12 excellent overs.