A bright 70 from Cody Chetty helped Copdock & Old Ipswichian to a third victory on the spin, at the expense of hosts Frinton in the Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League on Saturday.

Ipswich Star: Tom Rash (Copdock & Old Ipswichian)Tom Rash (Copdock & Old Ipswichian) (Image: James Ager)

Frinton have certainly not looked out of place in this division, since promotion from the Two Counties Championship last term.

And the Essex club pushed Copdock hard in this latest test, before eventually sliding to a three-wicket defeat at Ashlyns Road.

Frinton were restricted to 189 for nine in their innings, boosted by a fine 81 from Zimbabwean all-rounder David Brent, accumulated off 125 deliveries.

But they were always struggling to improve the run-rate, especially after a slow start, due to some impressive Copdock bowling, which yielded three wickets each for Matt Wareing, Tom Rash and Chris Swallow.

Ipswich Star: Cody Chetty (Copdock & Old Ipswichian)Cody Chetty (Copdock & Old Ipswichian) (Image: James Ager)

The biggest partnership of the innings was the 76-run stand for the sixth wicket, between Brent and ex-Mistley all-rounder Kyran Young, who contributed 31.

Copdock also found it difficult to gain any fluency, early on in their reply, until South African import Chetty turned the tide in their favour.

Hard-hitting Chetty and Tom Rash (30) came together with the visitors wobbling on 38 for three, sharing a 70-run partnership to put Copdock on course for victory, and third spot in the table.

Chetty found another reliable partner in Jack Beaumont. And when the South African was dismissed with the score on 152, having struck four sixes in his 70, Suffolk county player Beaumont took up the mantle to guide Copdock home with an unbeaten 33.

Ipswich Star: Martyn Cull (Copdock & Old Ipswichian)Martyn Cull (Copdock & Old Ipswichian) (Image: James Ager)

Copdock skipper James East, whose 10 overs had cost only 20 runs at the start of the afternoon, was naturally delighted.

“That’s the best we’ve bowled as a unit this season,” enthused East.

“We obviously won the toss and put them into bat, and we managed to keep it really tight to start with.

“I think they thought the wicket was worse than it actually was, so they didn’t really go for it until the final 10 overs.

“That left them 30 or 40 runs short of a par score.

“We stuttered a little early on, but Cody (Chetty) batted really well.

“Cody was on nought for ages, but he then hit their Sri Lankan spinner (Dilruk) for three sixes in one over.

“It looked as though Cody would go on to win it for us, but he got caught on the boundary, after which Jack Beaumont took over and got us home.

“It’s three wins in a row for us now, which I believe is the best sequence of results that we have had since we got promoted to this league.

“I think we look a decent side this year, and we will be even stronger when (Essex player) Jaik Mickleburgh is available to play.

“We are a strong unit, and now we are looking forward to playing Bury next weekend.

“Bury have a couple of big players, in Justin Bishop and Michael Comber, but they have been up-and-down so far,” added East.

Elsewhere, Woolpit had a second win on the trot, with a fine seven-wicket victory at Vauxhall Mallards.

Woolpit skipper, Andy Northcote, won the toss and opted to field, a decision which was soon vindicated as Mallards were bowled out for just 97, off 30.1 overs.

Sean Dickson led the way with four for 20, backed up by Michael Rippon (three for 20). There were also wickets for Will Parker and Adrian Starling.

Sam Webb-Snowling, who had recorded his first senior century on the opening day of the season, scored 50 off 47 balls to see the visitors to victory inside 17 overs.

Meanwhile, Bury St Edmunds drew with Saffron Walden at the Victory Ground. Matthew Gouldstone was unbeaten on 77 as Saffron Walden recovered from 53 for five to make 193 for seven off 60 overs.

Bury ended on 176 for nine, 18 runs short of victory with just one wicket in tact. Skipper Michael Comber top-scored with 49.