All the action from across the district

CCA Division 3A

A CRACKING century from James South propelled Littleport II to a 179-run win over Wimblington on Saturday.

South hit 10 boundaries and six maximums in a cultured knock of 110, with a quick-fire 52 from opener Andy Race pushing Littleport on to a stratospheric 241-7 at the close.

Seemingly unsatisfied with his century, South then turned his attentions to the ball and undoubtedly added weight to his claim for performance of the season with a return of 4-19 from 10 overs.

Richard Scott picked up 3-24 from his six overs and Ben Shipp pinched 2-12 to wrap up Wimblington’s innings with little more than 60 runs on the board.

Tucker Premier League 2

FOR the second successive week, Fordham were just one wicket away from outright victory as they claimed maximum bonus points in a drawn match against Yaxley.

Mark Silcock continued his early season form with 71 in a fine opening partnership of 97 with Gavin Harding (37). Later down the order Chamilla Mirissearachchi smashed 51 and Jason Harding made 19 not out to push the visitors on to 217-8 at the close of the innings.

After Charles Forden took an early wicket, Yaxley settled into their batting and made steady progress. Fordham rallied midway through the innings however, and Forden, Jason Harding and Graham Arnold put them in a commanding position, taking 5-26 between them.

Despite their late surge, Fordham were once again denied victory as Yaxley’s Clarke made an undefeated 27 to hold out for the draw.

CCA Division 1A

LITTLEPORT slipped to the foot of the table after losing out to front-runners Longstowe on Saturday.

Batting first, Port shrugged off the early loss of Chris Farnell to settle comfortably into the match, with Scott Connop (76) and Lewis Buxton (32) piling on the runs.

After the top-order duo were dismissed however, the Port batsmen were unable to push on and it was the extras column that would make up the majority of the runs with 32 added to the score in byes and wides.

Doug Marsh made 10 not out to be the last man standing as Port closed on 172.

The visitors’ bowling attack plugged away tirelessly at the Longstowe batsmen in their reply and were rewarded with some decent returns, Marsh picked up 3-57, Andrew Berry 1-20 and Farnell also took 1-20.

For all their exertion however, there was simply not enough runs on the board to defend and the home side reached their target with four wickets and four overs to spare.

FORDHAM’S second team were disappointed with their batting performance, although Witcham’s lively attack bowled superbly to take the honours by 63 runs.

Witcham skipper Nigel Pate held his side’s innings together early on as Jack Peters claimed three wickets in four deliveries to peg the visitors back.

After Pate had gone for 36, the lower order helped to plug the gap with Callum Steele making 31 in Witcham’s eventual 169.

Phil Dean (3-24), Jack Peters (3-37) and Tom Peters (2-39) took the wickets for Fordham.

It was the Witcham skipper’s son Angus who ripped the heart out of the Fordham line-up after V.J Vilthran (20) had given his side a promising start. Pate claimed 5-19 as Fordham were dismissed for 106.

CCA Division 2A

RYAN Bowles was the hero for Sutton on Saturday as his superlative efforts with the ball helped make light work of Needingworth.

Bowling first amid changeable conditions, Sutton were keen to take advantage of an unpredictable pitch and their strong pace attack were quick to test Needingworth’s resolve.

Led by Bowles (5-15), Sutton took regular wickets and soon had the home sides on the ropes. Following up on Bowles early success, last week’s hero Laksman Griffin-Singh (3-18) polished off the tail to leave Sutton needing just 91 for the win.

Fourteen from Michael Grady and 34 from Simon Cooper ensured Sutton were in a strong position at the half-way point and a patient 15 not out from Chris Greaves heelped bring the win home with six wickets in hand.

PYMOOR surged to the top of the league after a commanding seven-wicket win over Soham.

Bowling first, Pymoor met only Brady Stone (48) by way of resistance as Lorens Herselman (5-32) and Steve Saberton (4-34) blasted their way through the line-up. Josh Pope managed 17 before he finally succumbed and Soham finished on 103 all out.

Though the home side lost Ebbs and Russell cheaply, J Hargreaves hit 35 at the top of the order to ensure Pymoor sailed to a seven-wicket victory. Stone picked up 1-8 for Soham on an otherwise difficult day for them.

A THRILLING match between March Town and Little Downham ended with the former squeezing to victory with just one ball to spare.

Batting first, Little Downham’s Peter Baker smashed his way to a superb 100 to put the visitors in the driving seat before Phil Cornwell hit 44 lower down the order to see Downham reach 195-8 at the close.

Though none of the March batsmen were able to make more than 42 in their reply, enough of them weighed in with scores to keep them in with a chance of the win.

Robert Palmer (3-58) and Stanley Martin (2-62) plugged away admirably in Downham’s cause and the scores were almost level going into the final few balls.

Unfortunately for Downham however, March managed to squeeze home the runs with just one ball and three wickets to spare.

CCA Division 3A

HADDENHAM kick-started their season with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Ely II.

Opting to bowl first, Haddenham’s bowlers did a sterling job of restricting their opponent’s flow of runs and rotated their bowlers to superb effect.

Though Roby Mani and David Cook popped up with knocks of 34 in the middle order for Ely, there was little else worry the home bowlers as they wrapped up the Ely innings for just 112. James Money 2-6 and Mark Coles 2-29 led the way for Haddenham.

An excellent start from Jason Murfitt (31) and Adam Clow (21) put Haddenham firmly on the path to success and there was minimal fuss in bringing home the win from middle order pair Geoff Buck (17*) and Dillon Wass (10*)

WILBURTON’S bright start to the season continued apace as they picked up a four-run win over St Ives.

Several early breakthroughs for St Ives boded ill for Wilburton’s batsmen but they were able to steady the ship in the middle-order thanks largely to some excellent work from Chris Holden (48) and support from Thom Walker (13).

St Ives bowling attack remained consistent throughout and they maintained the pressure on the home side going into the closing overs. Steve Marshall’s cameo of 35 at number nine proved vital to push the home side on to 150 at the close.

Patrick Sarkies (40) and Stephen Baxter (26) started assuredly for St Ives and things looked bleak for Wilburton as the visitors showed no signs of struggling on the damp track.

Some inspired work from Lee Newton (5-31) quickly changed matters however, and with some much-needed support from Ben Nightingale (3-32) Wilburton managed to cause enough panic in the Ives line-up to see them dismissed just four runs short of their target.

CCA Division 4A

FORDHAM III’s Geoff Arnold dominated his sides’ 56-run victory with a magnificent 103 not out against Over II.

Arnold batted throughout Fordham’s innings as they posted 165-9 batting first. Over began their response slowly in a bid to see off the new ball but pace duo Nick Clark (3-21) and Andy Barker (2-10) ensured the points came Fordham’s way, with youngsters Daniel Hobbs and Hugh Alban-Jones taking a wicket apiece as Over were dismissed for 109.

CCA Division 5A

SOHAM II had Paul Leaford to thank for their slenderest of 10-run wins over Witcham II at the weekend.

Soham had little to shout about after a below-par 126 all out with the bat, though Peter Fretwell will be more than happy with his knock of 73 at the top of the order that accounted for almost 60 per cent of the team’s total.

Witcham’s B Philips took 5-28 in an excellent spell with the ball while Nigel Philips collected 3-16.

The home sides’ reply with the bat began solidly enough but none of the top four batsmen proved able to convert his start into a big knock and C Sharpe’s 39 was the only score of note as Soham turned the screw.

After a spell that yielded 3-26 for Iain Hobbs, the ball was thrown to Leaford who, despite having minimal runs to play with, was able to take six wickets for just 28 runs as Witcham crumbled to 116 all out.

AN exceptional all-round effort from Sutton II’s bowlers eased their route to victory over Histon at the weekend.

Batting first, the young Sutton line-up performed well throughout, with almost every batsmen making a notable contribution to the score. Spencer Saberton top-scored with 22 in the middle-order and his good work was ably supported by the likes of Steve Day (19) and Andy Bowles (15) who helped push the score on to 148 at the close.

After Sam Lee (41) blasted Histon out to an excellent start, Sutton managed to reign their opponents back in and Ren Barnard (3-11), Aiden Bowles (2-10) and Cornelio De Plessis (2-5) ensured the runs quickly dried up.

Histon’s last wicket fell with just 102 runs on the board, securing a 46-run win for the Sutton young guns.