CCA SENIOR DIVISION 2 Balsham 219-9 Ely/Haddenham 181-9 Balsham won by 38 runs ELY/HADDENHAM captain Ben Travers blamed lack of discipline after a poor batting performance saw them lose at Balsham on Saturday. Balsham batted first on a well-worn pitch. De

CCA SENIOR DIVISION 2

Balsham 219-9

Ely/Haddenham 181-9

Balsham won by 38 runs

ELY/HADDENHAM captain Ben Travers blamed lack of discipline after a poor batting performance saw them lose at Balsham on Saturday.

Balsham batted first on a well-worn pitch. Despite the efforts of Robin Hammerton, who has been bowling consistently well all season and finished on 3 for 58, they batted confidently and coped well with the difficult pitch.

No 5 J Barnes (57) was the star of the innings and he calmly picked out gaps in the field to reach his half-century.

Fine performances also came from K Saunders (47), E Garde (41) and L Stanley (27) as Balsham made a decent 219-9 score.

Ely/Haddenham struggled to find their rhythm. Travers (49) was the highest scorer for the visitors. Richard Vincett also batted well, scoring 31 not out, but Ely/Haddenham struggled to cope with the deteriorating pitch and were disappointed to finish on 181-9. Balsham's P Smith did the most damage, taking 3 for 51.

Travers said: "It's frustrating because if we had applied ourselves properly we could have come away with a win.

"We gave away wickets too easily from lashing out and playing crazy shots when there was no need to do so.

"Balsham showed much more discipline and composure than us, batted well on an awkward pitch, and deservedly took the win."

CCA DIVISION 1N

Willingham 149 Littleport 150-7

Littleport won by three wickets

AN exceptional 47 not out from Brady Stone ensured victory for Littleport at Willingham on Saturday.

Willingham got off to a good start with W Odendaal making 40 before he was run out.

But fine bowling from Steve Tuck (4 for 40) and Jamie Leonard (3 for 21) caused Willingham to lose four batsmen for ducks and ensure Littleport had a reachable target of 150.

Opener Terry Stone hit 19 to get Littleport off to a bright start and No 3 Tuck weighed in with 21. Stone came in with a match-winning performance, staying at the crease for the rest of the innings.

CCA DIVISION 2NA

Somersham 174-9 Soham 165-9

Somersham won by nine runs

SOHAM were narrowly beaten in a thrilling encounter at the Millennium Field in Somersham on Saturday, thanks mainly to a magnificent half-century from Kevin Wilson.

Somersham started steadily before Tony Kirby-Cook bowled opener M Davies for 16. Kirby-Cook then took two more wickets, both caught and bowled, ending up with 3 for 41.

Alex French provided good support - his first three overs were maidens - and this kept the pressure on the Somersham batsman.

Keith Metcalfe then put in another fine example of economical bowling, finishing with 2 for 29 off his 10 overs.

Chris Branch also bowled well and took 2 for 27. Both were caught and bowled, with Branch making a difficult low one-handed effort look easy.

Somersham's No 4 Wilson was the star of the innings with a superb 56 which put the home side in a commanding position.

Solid support came from Robin Parker (20) but David Lunn bowled them both in the 38th and 40th overs as Somersham ended up on 174-9.

Soham started their innings positively, at a six runs per over rate, before they lost two quick wickets.

Branch, promoted to No 3, played well but an unfortunate mix-up with Dave Thomas led to Thomas being run out. Branch did not let his team down, and ended up as top-scorer with 29, but he was caught and bowled by Robert Hobbs.

Lunn and Metcalfe kept Soham's chances alive with a partnership of 48, but when Lunn went for 22 and Metcalfe 24, the remaining Soham batsmen were left with a tall order.

Andy Cutchey (15 not out) and Alex French (8 not out) put in valiant efforts but Soham fell 10 runs short with their total of 165.

Somersham's best bowlers were Hobbs, who took 3 for 41, and Frank Parker with 2 for 40.

CCA DIVISION 2NB

Wilburton 160-9

Abbots Ripton 119-9

Wilburton won by 41 runs

WILBURTON claimed their second league win of the season in this bottom-of-the-table clash.

Wilburton opener A Jacobs went for 13 but Gary Foot and Stuart Norman added 51 for the second wicket. Foot hit five fours and made 27 before he was run out.

No 5 Dominic Drane maintained the momentum with 22 and Norman stayed at the crease for the majority of the Wilburton runs.

Norman was eventually bowled out by T Peters and he finished just shy of a half-century with 47. Peters was Abbots Ripton's top wicket-taker with 3 for 28.

Abbots Ripton lost early wickets and at 57 for 5 were chasing the game. Weary of losing more wickets they managed just 21 runs from 12 overs in the middle of the innings.

No 5 Andre Goodison put in a tremendous performance, hitting seven fours, and his 54 - the highest score of the match - gave the away side an outside chance.

Goodison was eventually run out in a desperate attempt to add runs and Abbots Ripton finished 41 short of their target.

Barry Watson was Wilburton's best bowler with 3 for 16 from just five overs, and Ian Jacobs (2 for 14) and Mick Garner (2 for 21) were also among the wickets.

CCA DIVISION 3NA

Pymoor 202-2 Wimblingdon 56

Pymoor won by 146 runs

PYMOOR romped to an easy win against rock-bottom Wimblingdon on Saturday.

The home side lost opener Graham Park for a single run but things quickly picked up and strong performances from Paul Ruskin (34), Jamie Butcher (72 not out) and Ashley Legge (69 not out) put them in a commanding position and Pymore finished with a sensational 202-2.

Pymoor bowlers Ward and Butcher ripped through the clearly deflated Wimblingdon batsmen with little fuss. Opener J Beresford (21) was the highest scorer but the remaining wickets fell cheaply and they were only able to reach 56.

Ward took three wickets at a cost of just two runs and Butcher was the chief wicket-taker with 4 for 44.

CCA DIVISION 3NA

Doddington II 115-9

Ely/Haddenham II 253-5

Ely/Haddenham II won by 138 runs

ELY/HADDENHAM continued their impressive form, notching up a seventh consecutive victory, thanks mainly to outstanding batting performances from Andrew Foster (109 not out) and Daniel Yardy (83).

Having won the toss, Ely/Haddenham decided to bat on a very dry wicket, a decision which was questioned when, in the eighth over, their third wicket fell with only 31 runs on the board.

That brought 16-year-old Yardy to the crease to join debut-making 13-year-old Daniel Beavis, both products of the Ely youth system.

Yardy stayed at the crease for 28 overs before he was finally bowled by 14-year-old Ivan Burgess. This was forceful yet controlled performance from Yardy which contained 11 fours, and the fielders were forced back on to the boundary from an early stage.

When Beavis fell in the 18th over, in-form all-rounder Foster came to the crease, seemingly on a mission.

Foster took the attack to the Doddington bowlers, taking advantage of the shorter boundaries. Foster carried his bat for the remaining 22 overs, ending up on 109 not out. Eighty of these runs were boundaries, with Foster hitting eight sixes and eight fours in a memorable innings.

A partnership of 144 between Yardy and Foster took Ely/Haddenham to a monstrous 253-5 off their 40 overs.

M Beeby and Benjamin Storey's opening bowling partnership again yielded early wickets, with three falling in the first 10 overs and then change bowlers Matthew Lucraft and Yardy wrapped up the Doddington innings. Both performed extremely well conceding just 16 runs between them off seven overs for six wickets.

Fifteen-year-old Lucraft bowled an impressive spell of five overs in which he took 3 for 14 to destroy the Doddington middle-order, while Yardy took 3 for 2 in just two overs to cap an excellent Ely/Haddenham performance.

This win keeps Ely/Haddenham second in the table with a critical game against Pymoor coming this weekend.

CCA DIVISION 4NB

Littleport II 132-8

Cambourne II 131-9

Littleport II won by two wickets

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Richard Dickinson took three wickets and then went on to score his first half-century as Littleport won this closely fought match on Saturday.

Cambourne batted first and decent performances came from middle-order batsmen P Parrington (22) and P Lee (36) as they reached 131-9.

Wayne Good was the chief wicket-taker for Littleport with an exceptional 4 for 32 and Dickinson weighed in with 3 for 33, including two maidens, in his 10 overs.

Cambourne then went to work and ripped through the Littleport top-order with only two of the top seven batsmen managing to reach double figures.

Match-winning performances then came from two Littleport players. No 8 Mark Scott (27 not out) and star-man Dickinson (54 not out) shook off the pressure and dug their team out of almost certain defeat with superb performances as Littleport reached 132-8 with two overs and one ball to spare.