HADLEIGH suffered a three wicket defeat against Chelmsford in the Essex League Premier Division.

Hadleigh were put into bat after losing the toss and were bowled out for 171 before Chelmsford made it home for the loss of seven wickets.

The defeat leaves Hadleigh fifth in the standings.

In Division Two, Old Southendian & Southchurch made it three wins out of three after beating Old Brentwoods by 21 runs.

Southendian were put into bat and made 256/9.

Hemanth Kumar Venkatakrishna top scored with 80 while Hardik Varma added 34.

In reply. Old Brentwoods were dismissed for 235.

Ahsan Yousaf (3/44), Matthew Austin (2/23) and Luke Clarke (2/28) all bowled well as second placed Old Southendian continued their excellent start to the season.

Westcliff are third in the table after beating Goresbrook by 70 runs at Chalkwell Park.

Westcliff elected to bat first and scored 260/9 after recovering well from 96/5.

Prin Patel, who batted at number eight, led the way with 75 not out while Finlay Mackay added 56 and Hammad Ul Hassan 54.

Goresbrook were well placed early on in their innings but slipped from 135/4 to 190 all out.

Sam Adley (4/56) was the pick of Westcliff’s bowlers while Hammad Ul Hassan took 2/36.

In Division Three, sixth placed Wickford suffered a narrow seven run defeat at Barking.

Barking were bowled out for 148 with Tony Munyonga taking 3/40.

But, in reply, Wickford were bowled out for 141.

Eighth placed Leigh on Sea were also beaten at they lost by five wickets at home to West Essex.

Leigh batted first but were bowled out for just 126.

Shaun Du Plessis, who was batting at number 10, top scored with 24 before West Essex made it home for the loss of five wickets.

Tim Knox took 5/56 with the ball for Leigh but it was not enough to prevent defeat.

Elsewhere, bottom of the table Benfleet lost by one wicket against Hornchurch Athletic.

Benfleet were dismissed for 106 with Gavin Blowes top scoring with 35 not out before Hornchurch made it home for the loss of nine wickets.

Callum Wheeler (5/29) and Paul Frensham (3/24) both bowled well for Benfleet but it was still Hornchurch who came out on top.

In Division Four, Southend & EMT tied at home to London Eagles.

Eagles were bowled out for 208 before Southend ended their innings on 208/9 as both teams picked up 14 points.

Southend are now sixth in the standings.