Copdock & Old Ipswichian, champions Sudbury and Frinton-on-Sea are the only three teams with a 100 per cent record after the first two fixtures of the East Anglian Premier League season.
Following on from their impressive opening day victory at Swardeston, COPDOCK & OI eased to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory at home to Burwell & Exning on Saturday.
Skipper Chris Swallow won the toss and elected to field first, and it proved a wise decision as the visitors were restricted to 214 for six in a rain-affected match, off a reduced 41 overs.
Copdock then reached their target with eight wickets and 3.3 overs in hand, to make it two wins from two going into this weekend’s Suffolk derby at home to Bury St Edmunds.
Burwell got off to a good start, boosted by an opening stand of 70 between Tom Jagot (72) and Tom Griffiths (32), but they then lost four wickets for the addition of just 59 runs.
Captain Swallow took two of these wickets, on his way to figures of 8-0-27-2, while fellow spinner Jack Beaumont (8-0-31-1) also bowled tightly and was rewarded with the wicket of Chris Summerskill (11).
Former Kent fast bowler Matt Hunn, who had marked his Copdock debut with three wickets in the opening day success at Swardeston, claimed the big wicket of opener Jagot, on his way to figures of two for 57 off his eight overs.
Jamie Seabrook boosted the Burwell total to over the 200-mark, thanks to a hard-hitting 60 not out off just 37 balls.
But Copdock, despite the early loss of Donald Mlambo (8) with the score on 37, were always in control during their reply, thanks to an unbeaten century from Ben Claydon.
Claydon put on 53 with Alex Oxley (23) before sharing an unbroken partnership of 125 with Beaumont for the third wicket.
All-rounder Beaumont finished on 50 not out, achieved off 49 deliveries, while the dominant Claydon struck an unbeaten 123 off 115 balls, with a six and 14 fours. Claydon’s century came off 105 balls.
Meanwhile, champions SUDBURY continued where they left off, following their 10-wicket thrashing of Cambridge Granta on day one, by winning a tight match at Great Witchingham by 15 runs in another rain-affected contest.
Put into bat, Sudbury progressed along to a modest 155 for eight off a reduced 31 overs, although only three of their batsmen reached double figures.
Skipper Adam Mansfield made 21 at the top of the innings, but the visitors were quickly pegged back, losing their first five wickets with just 54 on the scoreboard.
However, a sixth-wicket partnership worth 69, between summer signing Ryan Vickery (54) and Ben Reece (46 not out), at least gave Sudbury something to defend. Vickery faced 63 balls for his 54, with a couple of sixes and six fours, while Reece also bagged a couple of sixes in his 37-ball stay.
Sudbury’s opening pair of James Poulson and Henry Shipley soon had Great Witchingham on the back foot – the Norfolk side lost their first three wickets with just 12 on the board.
After Shipley had removed Jack Boyle (6), Poulson struck with the important wickets of skipper Sam Arthurton (5) and Alex Shanks (1).
Club captain Darren Batch then weighed in with the wickets of James Hall (7) and danger-man Brett Stolworthy (4), and Patrick Sadler followed suit with the scalps of Peter Trewick (1) and Matthew Long (23) to leave the hosts floundering on 59 for seven.
They did rally, due to a 43-run stand between Charlie Rogers (58) and Andy Hanby (20), but Sudbury kept their nerve, Poulson’s three for 23 off six overs being the stand-out analysis.
Frinton are the third of the three teams to have recorded back-to-back wins, following up their home win over Great Witchingham with a comfortable six-wicket win at Vauxhall Mallards.
Frinton won an important toss and inserted Mallards into bat in another rain-truncated contest. Just 27 overs were possible, with Mallards making 89 for nine, due mainly to a patient 37 from opener Troy Allan.
Again, Frinton’s summer recruits played a big part. Former Norwich stalwart Ashley Watson took three for 25 off three overs, while spinner Dulanjala Mendis (6-2-13-1) and Ollie Bocking (6-2-18-2), who both opened the attack, were impressive.
Although early wickets were lost, wicketkeeper Tom Sinclair guided Frinton to victory with 7.5 overs in hand. Sinclair finished on 42 not out, with seven fours, and he received good support from Miguel-Angelo Machado (23).
There was no such luck for Mildenhall and Bury St Edmunds, who suffered contrasting defeats last weekend.
MILDENHALL are one of only three teams without a win from their first two fixtures, after they were soundly beaten by 112 runs at home to Horsford.
Horsford amassed 265 for four off their 50 overs, having been put into bat by home skipper Tom Rash. Pace-man Hugo Douglas (10-2-35-2) was easily the pick of the bowlers, while William Rogers (99) and Jason Reynolds (65) effectively took the game by the scruff of the neck with a third-wicket stand worth 140.
Mildenhall were soon struggling in their reply, on 36 for four, and despite a 61-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Rash (40) and Tristan Blackledge (31), the Suffolk side crumbled to 153 all out off 39.1 overs.
BURY ST EDMUNDS had begun the season with a win at Horsford, and they put up a good fight before going down to an eight-wicket loss at home to Swardeston.
Boosted by half-centuries from opener Alfie Marston (50) and Ben Curran (50) at No. 6, Bury made 241 for seven off 50 overs. They were helped by an unbroken stand of 57 between Max Whittaker (33no) and Alastair Allchin (26no).
George Loyd removed both openes Jordan Taylor (27) and Callum Taylor (31), but Stephen Gray (82no) and skipper Joe Gatting (77no) put on an unbroken 174 to see Swardeston home.
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