Chris Warne and Muhammad Atif guided Clacton to an impressive six-wicket win over Horsford, in the Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier Division on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 173, Clacton were wobbling at 108 for four, but wicketkeeper Warne and Atif ensured there were to be no more slips ups as the Essex club wrapped up their third league win of the season.

Horsford had won the toss and opted to bat, but were soon pegged back by a fine spell from opening bowler Michael Comber, who dismissed the first three visiting batsmen with just 25 on the board.

Ryan Findlay offered some resistance with an innings of 67, in the middle order, but there were no partnerships of substance from Horsford, who were eventually bowled out for 172 in 44 overs.

Nuwan Jayasena mopped up the tail, taking the last four wickets to finish with figures of four for 27 off 10 overs.

Clacton’s reply was solid enough, with all their top six batsmen reaching double figures. Opener Greg Smith contributed 36, and there were 20s from Jason Hughes and captain Comber, before Warne and Atif took centre stage.

Warne was unbeaten on 42, batting patiently for 106 deliveries with five boundaries, while Atif was 26 not out as victory was achieved in the 57th over.

Sudbury, meanwhile, triumphed by 17 runs in an exciting match at Saffron Walden, in a low-scoring affair.

In a rain-affected game, Sudbury made 125 for eight in 47 overs, thanks chiefly to a slick 52 from captain Darren Batch, off 58 balls. Batch dominated a 62-run partnership for the third wicket with Jay Phillips.

An unbeaten 26 from Suffolk county player Adam Mansfield, batting at No. 6, was to prove crucial. Together with Ben Hyett (16 not out), they advanced the Sudbury total from 97 to 125. Tim Smith took five wickets for the hosts.

Saffron Walden were soon struggling at 22 for four, and despite a half-century by Glen Batticciotto, they fell short of their target, due to the efforts of Jandre Coetzee and Jonathan Gallagher, who between them bowled 26.2 of the 34.2 overs in the innings.

Coetzee took six wickets for 44, off 14.2 overs, while Gallagher bowled with accuracy with two for 28.

Unfortunately, there was again no joy for bottom club Bury St Edmunds, whose relegation concerns must be growing after another heavy defeat, this time by 72 runs at the hands of Burwell at Mingay Park.

It was another dramatic batting collapse that was to cost Bury dear.

The experienced duo of Justin Bishop and Tom Huggins both took three wickets apiece in Burwell’s innings, after Huggins had won the toss and decided to field, but Bury let their hosts off the hook at 132 for eight. An unbeaten 41 from No. 8 Alistair Allchin boosted the total to 170 for nine declared.

Bishop (34) and Huggins (26) shared an opening stand of 48, to put the visitors in the driving seat, but Bishop’s demise, trapped leg before by Kiran Adhav, sparked off a clatter of wickets. In fact, Bury proceeded to lose all 10 of their wickets for just 50 runs, and surrendered their last five wickets for a mere two runs!

Adhav took five for 25 off 14 overs to inflict another damaging defeat on the Victory Ground club, who have now failed to win any of their first 10 league fixtures.

Copdock & Old Ipswichian were put to the sword by Vauxhall Mallards, and home bowler Paul Bradshaw in particular, on a soggy afternoon.

Bradshaw took eight wickets for just 17 runs as Copdock were dismissed for just 68 off 19 overs.

It could have been even worse, because Copdock were at one stage 33 for eight (and in danger of an unwanted league record for the lowest total), before Peter George (20 not out) and John East (15) put the more specialist batsmen to shame.

Tom Rash took four wickets in Mallards’ reply, but it was always going to be tough trying to defend a total of 68, and the hosts reached their target for the loss of five wickets.