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Grant Smith led the way as Burnham Sports 1st XI thumped Chignal by 94 runs in their latest T.Rippon Mid-Essex League first division encounter.

And to cap a fine day for the club, Sports' 2nd XI, inspired by a fine all-round performance from Sayeid Ahmed, gained a much-needed 66-run win away to Ekco Monarchs in division eight.

Smith, who has relished opening the batting in the past fortnight, hit 81 as Burnham accumulated 252 for seven from their allotted 45 overs after winning the toss and electing to bat.

He shared in a stand of 80 for the first wicket with Neil Saunders (25) and then added another 88 for the second wicket with the in-form Joel Whittaker, who hit 56 off 59 balls.

Smith hit ten fours and was in sight of three figures when deceived by the spin of Hector Bevitt-Smith.

The rest of the Burnham batsmen all chipped in with quick runs, with Robin Whittaker ending unbeaten on 18.

Chignal crumbled to 118 for eight in reply before Ross Cant (57) helped them finish with 158 with two overs left.

Andy Stephens (7-2-16-2) did the early damage for the home team before Ali All chin (6-0-32-4) and Jamie Hamilton (4-2-9-2) prospered.

Karl Barnes (one for 36) would have been able to reflect on much better figures but for several dropped catches. Stephens, for his part, held on to three.

Jamie Hamilton, the Burnham captain, said: We've won our last three matches in convincing style and it's just a shame we didn't start the season in the kind of form that we are now in. Hopefully, we can maintain this level of performance until the end of the year."

Burnham's relegation-threatened 2nd XI travelled to promotion-chasing Ekco and turned the formbook upside down - winning by 66 runs.

Put into bat on a bare wicket, Burnham reached 109 for two in the 32nd over thanks to the efforts of Ahmed (47), Tim Melton, Ed King and Richard Melton.

The introduction of spinners saw Sports stumble to 127 for eight in the 41st over before some forceful blows by Roger Perrin and Greg Campion enabled them to finish with a challenging 161.

That tally proved more than enough as Ahmed (10.1-3-19-4) and Greg Campion (10-2-38-4) exploited some decent bowling conditions. Ashley Wade (5-0-20-1) also played his part, while Simon Turnnidge took three catches behind the stumps.

The weekend was not all good news for Burnham, though. Jalal Ahmed faces a spell on the sidelines after injuring a knee, while the club's Sunday XI lost their latest Warsop Central Esssex League match by seven wickets at home to Great Waltham.

Burnham laboured to 163 for nine from their 40 overs after deciding to bat, with only Steve Sims (42) making much impression among the top-order batsmen. Sayeid Ahmed, perhaps drained by his exploit's the previous day, struggled to 24, with Andy Stephens hitting a swift 20 not out at the finish.

Waltham eased past that target with more than ten overs to spare. Robin Whittaker (one for 15) was the pick of the Burnham attack, with Dave Gamble and young Tom Stephens taking the other wickets to tumble.

This Saturday, the 1st XI travel to Herongate, who are bottom of the table, while the 2nd XI are at home to Springfield.

11:48am Thursday 31st July 2008

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