CCA SENIOR DIVISION 2 Ely/Haddenham 231-9 Thriplow 282 Thriplow won by 51 runs ELY/HADDENHAM captain Ben Travers admitted that promotion may now be beyond them after their second successive defeat came against league-leaders Thriplow on Saturday. Thriplo

CCA SENIOR DIVISION 2

Ely/Haddenham 231-9

Thriplow 282

Thriplow won by 51 runs

ELY/HADDENHAM captain Ben Travers admitted that promotion may now be beyond them after their second successive defeat came against league-leaders Thriplow on Saturday.

Thriplow have had led the CCA Senior Division 2 all season and this stunning performance at Ely/Haddenham's Paradise Ground showed why.

The home side were missing the influential Mike Grady, out with a broken toe, and they struggled to contain the aggressive, free-scoring Thriplow batsmen.

Openers Russell (75) and Craze (55) were both exceptional. Middle-order batsmen Staley (44), Selkirk (35) and Viner (27) all put in solid efforts and kept the rapid run-rate going.

Thriplow's final four batsmen were able to muster only five runs between them, but by this point the damage had already been done and the visitors left Ely/Haddenham with a formidable 282 target.

Richard Vincett was a shining light for the home side, bowling superbly in his second spell, and became the top wicket-taker in a single match for Ely/Haddenham all season, taking 6 for 68 from his 13 overs.

Opener John Peacock batted aggressively, and looked determined to get the home side off to good start.

Yet after 18 overs, things were looking bleak with them needing an average of nine runs per over.

Peacock finished one run short of his half-century. After a couple more wickets fell, Mark Abbott came in to bat and got straight down to business.

Abbott increased the run-rate remarkably to give Ely/Haddenham an outside chance.

Despite Abbott's sensational performance, hitting 80 runs, support was lacking with Travers (33) the only other batsman to make a notable contribution, and Ely/Haddenham finished the match 51 runs short of their target.

Travers said: "We set out to achieve promotion at the start of the season but things just haven't gone our way and, though it's not yet mathematically impossible, it looks like that may just be beyond us now.

" I still see that third spot is a realistic target, and considering the fact that we have quite a few young players in the team, that would be an impressive achievement."

TUCKER PREMIER LEAGUE

DIVISION 2

Fordham 204-7

Cambridge-Godmanchester 171-7

Draw

FORDHAM had the better of this draw with Cambridge and Godmanchester on Saturday.

Mark Silcock opened the batting and got Fordham off to a sound start. Silcock went on to reach 34.

Cameo performances also came from Neil Clark (21) and Darren Theobald (16).

Fordham then started to struggle, but Jason Theobald came to the rescue.

He stayed at the crease for the remainder of the innings for an undefeated 66.

Theobald was well assisted by lower order batsmen Dave Stannard, who made 17 off three overs, and Carl Arnold, who made a quick-fire 14 not out.

This was a very impressive finish to the innings from Fordham, who made 45 runs off their last four overs, with Jason Theobald hitting a boundary off the final ball to ensure that they received maximum batting points.

Cambridge and Godmanchester got off to a good start with opening batsman Lawson in sensational form.

Lawson stayed at the crease for a long time and managed to reach 70.

After his dismissal Fordham got on top of the game and it looked like the visitors were out of it. They shut up shop to see out the rest of the match.

Fordham's best bowlers were Clinton Cornwell with 2 for 31, 16-year-old Carl Arnold with 2 for 41 and Dave Stannard who made 2 for 49.

Fordham finished the match with 14 points and Cambridge and Godmanchester ended on eight.

CCA DIVISION 1N

Little Downham 151

Willingham 75

Little Downham won by 76 runs

NINE-MAN Little Downham remarkably managed a comfortable 76-run win.

James White put in a fine all-round performance for Little Downham and he was the home side's star-man. White stayed at the crease for the entire innings to make 45 not out. Peter Baker batted well and made 27, and Robert Palmer and weighed in with 23, but the remaining Little Downham batsmen failed to reach double figures.

Manks was the chief wicket-taker for Willingham and he finished the game on 3 for 56.

Stan Martin and White bowled superbly for Little Downham, taking four wickets each, as the home team got Willingham all out for 75 with little fuss.

Martin bowled three maidens in his nine overs and finished the game with figures of 4 for 28 and White finished on 4 for 17 from seven overs.

CCA DIVISION 1N

Littleport 74 Milton 201-6

WITH six first team players unavailable, Littleport were comprehensively beaten by Milton on Saturday.

Milton batted first and McGor was the star of the innings with 84 not out. Amplilett (26) and J Nayar (21) were the other main contributors as they reached 201-6.

Terry Stone was Littleport's best bowler with 3 for 38 from nine overs.

Littleport got off to a disastrous start when they lost their opening batsman Steve Kimsey for a duck, and the innings continued in a similar fashion.

The only bright spot came from 16-year-old Ashley Dougan, who made an impressive 38, but no other Littleport batsman reached double figures, and this was a match that they will be eager to forget.

CCA DIVISION 1N

Cambridge Granta IV 143

Fordham II 144-2

Fordham II won by eight wickets

FORDHAM'S second team were in sensational form on Saturday, cruising past Cambridge Granta IV to an eight wicket victory.

Cambridge Granta batted first and fine bowling performances from Darren Pryke (3 for 22), Neville Bussingham (3 for 39) and Luke Arnold (2 for 20) ensured that they were all out for 143 and Fordham had a very reachable target.

Fordham's reply was outstanding and they raced to victory in 25 overs, losing only two wickets along the way.

Scott Blaber (37) put in a second wicket stand of 92 runs with Bussingham, and after Blaber's dismissal, Andy Benton came in to knock 22 not out.

To add to his three wickets, Bussingham finished on 69 not out, and was undoubtedly the man-of-the-match.

CCA DIVISION 3NA

Pymoor 173

Ely/Haddenham II 174-8

Ely/Haddenham II won

by two wickets

ELY/HADDENHAM'S second team's fantastic season continued with a hard-fought and crucial win at Pymoor.

At the start of play, both teams were tied in second place in the Cambridgeshire Division 3NA, and vying for the second promotion spot.

In a tense encounter, both teams gained impetus at different stages of the game, but eventually an eighth-wicket partnership of 49 by Ely/Haddenham batsmen Greg Hopkinson and Michael Beeby saw them home with no more than 17 balls to spare.

Pymoor won the toss and decided to bat first on a muddy wicket.

They set off at a steady pace before Andrew Foster took control and destroyed the Pymoor top order by claiming the first four wickets of the match in his 10 over spell.

Fifteeen-year-old county player Fred Steele claimed the prize wicket of Pymoor's in-form batsman Ashley Legg, and eventually took 2 for 33.

Vice-captain Mark Higginson claimed the other four wickets to finish off the Pymoor innings.

Pymoor put in a late flourish of 30 runs with a last wicket stand, bringing their total to 173 all out.

Ely/Haddenham's response started at a pace, with Michael Tickner racing to 13, but in the fourth over, Pymoor captain Steve Saberton removed both opening batsmen to put them in a position of 22 for 2.

This brought one of last weeks heroes Daniel Yardy to the crease, and despite staying for several overs, he departed for only four runs.

All-rounder Andrew Foster then came in. Foster has been in the batting form of his life with two unbeaten centuries last weekend.

Foster again performed well and his big hitting and progressive running kept the scoreboard ticking over, the highlight being a big six that cleared the Pymoor pavilion.

When Foster was out for 45, heads start to drop, and many believed that the game was beyond the visitors, but it was an unlikely duo who stepped up to be heroes for the day.

Beeby's career best of 26 not out and Hopkinson's 27 not out saw Ely/Haddenham home with a partnership of well over 50 to claim their eighth consecutive win.

Next week Ely/Haddenham second team play Doddington at home, knowing now that if they remain unbeaten for the rest of the season, they will be promoted.

CCA Division 4NB

Isleham II 142 Fordham III 142-5

Tie

DEPLETED Isleham were involved in a dramatic tied game against local rivals Fordham at the Recreation Ground.

Isleham, with only two front line batsmen available, made 142 all out in their innings. John Goff (58) was the pick of the batsmen scoring his second consecutive 50, and B Creasey and C Forden each picked up three wickets for Fordham.

In Fordham's reply, Roger Morley scored 48 before retiring, and he received good support from B Peters and B Creasey who both scored 19.

Fordham required four to tie from the last ball of the game and R Massuad was the batsmen who successfully found the boundary.

This was a game Isleham would have expected to win with a full side and the promotion battle with Newmarket and Littleport is very much alive with two games remaining.