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Wanstead vs Ilford Essex Premier League 3 July B Holder
The first eleven's assault on the league championship gathered further momentum with a straightforward victory over Ilford who elected to bat and then made painful progress to 208-7 in their 64 overs. All the Wanstead bowlers exerted pressure but the real clincher was Shaheed Saeed's remarkable hat trick of lbw decisions. The Ilford cause lay mainly in the hands of Gurdip Kandola who propped one end, scoring 71 and only losing out when he decided to speed up his scoring. They recovered well from 52-4 with A Chippa playing a good part with 46*. Shahid bowled 16 overs, taking 3-34,and Merv Westfield and Fayyaz Khan bowled long economical spells, each taking a wicket or two. The total of 208-7 represented a decent recovery but was never enough to trouble the Herons.
Almost inevitably, the backbone of Wanstead's innings was provided by John Chambers, who batted through for 77*. Christian Burgess (32), Merv Westfield (50), and finally Adnan Akram (32*) each played an important role in pushing on to victory which was achieved with at least half a dozen overs in hand.