Newham began life in the Shepherd Neame Essex League with a home win over Barking at Flanders Field on Saturday.
A shortened, nine-week season due to the coronavirus pandemic saw the two newcomers go head-to-head after being elected to the competition during the winter.
And Newham vice-chairman Tariq Aslam admitted it was proud day for the club, saying: “We have now been running three adult Saturday teams and seven colts teams for the past five seasons.
“Our wicket is among the best in the county and we are still improving the facilities every year. We welcome this opportunity to show that Newham’s players can compete with the best in Essex.”
Barking chose to bat after winning the toss, with Hasnain Quershi holding down one end to score 55 off 43 balls.
Newham’s excellent bowling attack took wickets regularly, though, as pacemen Adnan Khan (2-12) and Khawar Khurshid (2-20) nabbed braces.
Spinners Aamir Shaukat (3-27) and Oshada Pahalawithanage (3-12) shared the rest of the wickets as Barking were dismissed for 108 in 28 overs.
Nahed Patel (23) got Newham off to a good start in reply, before Waseem Majeed (46) and captain Sajjad Mirza (21 not out) saw them to a seven-wicket win in 20 overs.
Newham entertain Rainham this Saturday (12.30pm).
The 2nd XI visited Redbridge firsts in the Essex County League Premier Division and took early wickets after losing the toss.
Tauseef Rehman picked up a brace, before Amandeep Singh (24) and Hayat Ali (29) hit back for the hosts at Clayhall Park.
Waqas Ahmed and Rohan Pawar took two wickets each, before spinner Pragash Ram (3-6) cleaned up the tail to restrict Redbridge to 126 in 22 overs.
Seven catches were held in an excellent fielding display by Newham, who slipped to 13-2 as Usman Aslam bowled a tight opening spell before Ram hit 43 off 34 balls.
The visitors slumped from 73-2 to 74-6 as Khizar Ur-Rehman and Humad Mahmood struck, but captain Nishant Mittal (23) showed patience and Ahmed hit 27 off 21 balls in a 54-run stand to seal a four-wicket win.
Mittal said: “We worked a lot on our fielding in training and it was nice to see it pay off in this match.
“The batting collapse is something we will work on as the run chase should’ve been easier than it turned out to be.
“I can only commend the Redbridge bowlers for making it difficult for us, but I am proud that we were able to show strength of character and bring home the win.”
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