Essex League: Hornchurch, Brentwood win, but Wanstead slump

Hornchurch bounced back from derby defeat at Brentwood to beat Buckhurst Hill and move 17 points clear at the top of the Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier Division.

Captain Billy Gordon chose to bat and saw Jalpesh Vijay hit 30 off 26 balls in a 57-run opening stand with Paul Murray.

And although Jamie Sorrell (eight) and George Hankins (13) fell cheaply, Murray went on to make 53.

Hornchurch slipped from 124-3 to 126-6, though, as Ronnie Saunders and Adeel Malik quickly departed, before Gordon and Arthur George got them back on track.

George hit eight fours in his 50 from 72 balls, dominating an 81-run stand with Gordon, who was run out for a team high 60.

Ositadinma Onwuzulike (19) and Gavin Griffiths (13 not out) added quick runs late on to lift the total to 271, but the hosts reached 119-2 in reply.

Spinners Marc Whitlock and Malik got in on the act to make it 136-5, before Saunders, Griffiths and Malik (3-64) struck further blows in quick succession as the hosts lost three wickets for two runs.

Griffiths finished with 5-47 as Hornchurch sealed a 64-run victory as nearest rivals Colchester completed a successful chase at Hadleigh.

Third-placed Brentwood, meanwhile, beat Hutton in another derby at the Old County Ground after a five-wicket haul from former Essex staffer Thomas Moore.

Put into bat, they lost captain Aaron West cheaply, and slipped to 81-5 as only Australian Daniel Drew (29) made much ipact.

Connor Limrick (3-43) did most of the damage with the new ball for Hutton, but Tom Oakley (40) put on 87 with James Redwood to get the hosts back on track.

Redwood went on to score 55 off 108 balls, hitting eight fours, before falling with the total on 193, with Viraj Gandhi (4-28) mopping up as Brentwood were dismissed for 204 in the 51st over.

And Hutton, after losing Ben Parry cheaply, reached 55-1 before Bailey Wightman removed Joel Hussain and Sean Sullivan (42) and Ian Belchamber got rid of Cameron Tredget to make it 83-4.

Moore claimed his second scalp with only two more runs added, then added three more to finish with 5-40 before Wightman (4-55) mopped up to secrue a 69-run victory.

Defending champions Wanstead, after successfully chasing 300 at Colchester’s Castle Park a week earlier, were brought crashing down to earth with a heavy defeat against Chelmsford at Overton Drive.

Joe Ellis-Grewal chose to bat but saw his side slump to 19-6 as Liam Keaney (4-11) and Andy Styan (3-39) caused havoc with the new ball.

Captain Ellis-Grewal fell with the total on 28, before Eshun Kalley (21) and Adnan Akram (20) managed to reach double figures as the Herons were skittled for 68.

And the visitors raced to an eight-wicket win inside 11 overs, with captain Jack Sterland hitting nine fours in his unbeten 45 from 35 balls.