CRICKET: Hadleigh & Thundersley suffered a seven wicket defeat against Hutton in the Premier Division of the Essex League.

Hadleigh batted first and made 258/9.

Oliver Smith top scored with a fine 104 from 117 balls while Haider Ali Syed Zaidi added 56.

But Hutton reached the required total for the loss of just three wickets.

In Division One, Billericay were beaten by 80 runs against Buckhurst Hill.

Buckhurst Hill were bowled out for 246 with Ross Poulton and Aryan Malik both taking three wickets each.

But, in reply, Billericay were dismissed for just 166.

William Dale (35) and Rowan Elliott (34) were top scorers for Billericay before both were run out.

There was also disappointment for Benfleet in Division Two as they suffered an eight wicket defeat at Epping.

Benfleet scored 254/7 in their 50 overs with Fayaz Khan Nasseri (46) and captain Sam Rowe (40) leading the way.

But Epping secured victory for the loss of just two wickets thanks to Sarthak Kohli with 87 not out and Quazi Mubassher Ahmed 84 not out.

Old Southendian & Southchurch lost by 36 runs against Old Brentwoods.

The hosts batted first and made 305/9 with Baber Choudhary scoring an impressive 124.

Matthew Austin (3-30) and Ahmed Khawaja (3-58) lead the way with the ball for Old Southendian who were then bowled out for 269 in reply.

Opener Ahmed Khawaja top scored with 100 but it was not enough to prevent defeat.

Elsewhere in Division Two, Westcliff beat local rivals Leigh on Sea by four runs.

Westcliff made 174/4 in their innings with Peter Barnes top scoring with 71 not out and Hammad Ul Hassan adding 65 not out.

James Spencer (2-26) and Tim Knox (2-41) impressed with the ball for Leigh who were then bowled out for 170.

Matthew Wagstaff top scored for Leigh with 41 while skipper Kevin Sargent, who opened, hit 31.

Hammad Ul Hassan (3-13) was the pick of Westcliff’s bowlers while Sam Hallows (2-28) and Barnes (2-46) also played a key part as Westcliff secured back to back victories.

In Division Three, Southend & EMT lost by six wickets against Harlow.

Southend scored 205/7 with Zisan Abedin hitting 66 and Mohammad Al-Amin 42.

But Harlow made it home for the loss of four wickets.