WITCHAM launched their 2011 league campaign with a resounding five-wicket win over St Ives on Saturday.

Nigel Pate’s young charges made light work of their more experienced opponents, excelling with both bat and ball in a portentous performance.

The win earned Witcham the maximum 20 points, and sees them charge straight into a tie for first place ahead of their clash at Fordham at the weekend.

Opting to bat first, St Ives were quickly pegged back by the young Witcham attack, finding themselves in a bind at 10-2 after Nick Jones (2-22) picked up two early wickets.

Kevin Sequenza hit 48 for the visitors to restore some order but his efforts were frittered away by his team mates as they failed to turn good starts into big scores.

By the time Angus Pate (2-42) had Matthew Dack caught, St Ives were reduced to 129-6, though they managed to reach 164 for no further loss by the end of the innings.

Witcham required a little more than four-per-over for the win but lost captain Pate for a duck as St Ives rallied. A virtuoso knock of 87 from Michael Hook settled home nerves however, and, ably supported by the patient Jamie Lawrence (21) he was able to guide the home side into a commanding position.

Iain Housden (10*) and Glen Griffiths (10*) wrapped up the win for Witcham with about four overs to spare.

There was also a good start to the league season for Witcham II as they scored a 36-run win over Willingham.

Nigel Phillips (45) and Colin Alsop (35) powered Witcham to 169-7 batting first, with a tidy total of 32 extras helping boost the sides’ total.

Though Willingham openers Ron Leach (13) and Chris Titmarsh (46) proved difficult to remove at the top of the order, Nigel Phillips (3-17), Brandon Phillips (3-23) and Daniel Jeffrey (3-28) ensured Witcham wrapped up the win with 36 runs to spare.