Newham made it back-to-back wins in the Shepherd Neame Essex League with success over fellow newcomers Rainham at Flanders Field.

Newham Recorder: Action from Newham's clash with Rainham at Flanders Field (pic Tim Edwards)Action from Newham's clash with Rainham at Flanders Field (pic Tim Edwards) (Image: Archant)

Having beaten Barking in their opening game in the Westley Division, they put the visitors into bat and saw their fast bowlers strike early with the new ball.

Khawar Khurshid took a spectacular one-handed return catch off his own bowling for one of his two wickets, before spinners Aamir Shaukat (four wickets) and Oshada Pahalawithage (three) turned the screw.

And Rainham were dismissed for 145 in 36 overs, with Danny Skipper (26) their top scorer.

Newham’s reply began poorly as they lost their opening batsmen early, but Adnan Ashraf rallied with a quickfire 23 to ease some of the pressure.

Kabir Rashid accelerated to score 29, but Rainham kept themselves in the hunt by taking wickets at regular intervals.

Shaukat completed a fine all-round display for Newham, though, with a matchwinning 40 not out, with Khurshid hitting the winning boundary to seal a three-wicket victory in the 22nd over.

Newham top the table with two wins from two games and will hope to continue their winning streak next week when they host Harlow on Saturday.

The seconds lost to their Rainham rivals in a return friendly at Spring Farm Park.

The home side recovered from the loss of two early wickets to post 216-8 from 40 overs, with Nikhil Patel hitting an unbeaten century.

Sriram Kumar took two wickets in two balls for Newham, with the others shared among the attack as all bowlers got some good match experience.

Rain began to fall just as Newham began their chase and they struggled to build momentum in difficult conditions and on a heavy outfield.

Batsmen came and went due to tight bowling and good fielding by Rainham, although Pragash Ram (26) attacked from one end as Mayank Singh (33) steadied the other in a good partnership.

A series of catches were held by Rainham as Newham were dismissed for 139 in 31 overs, with youngster Kyan Lehal (5-50) and Sam Crotch (3-21) leading the way with the ball.

Newham seconds return to league action next weekend where they visit Ace Avengers in Walthamstow.

The thirds shared the points with Ace seconds at Low Hall Sports Ground, after heavy rain saw the match abandoned.

Newham started well and removed the Ace openers early to leave them 31-2 in 10 overs, before a 50-run stand gave the hosts momentum to rebuild.

Kamal Hossain took two wickets with the other Newham seamers getting a wicket each as Ace reached 149-5 in 28 overs when heavy rain meant no further play was possible. The thirds host Bow Green seconds on Saturday.