United Sanjan cemented their North East London League title challenge with a 112-run victory over rivals Stoke Newington to hold onto top spot with just three rounds of fixtures remaining.

After being put into bat at Millfields Park, Sanjan’s pairing of Nadeem Shaihk (52) and debutant Athar Kuwawala (15) stood strong on a tricky wicket to help them to 89-2 just before the drinks.

Aliasgar Patel (23) continued the steady start and, although a middle-order collapse saw three wickets fall for 10 runs, another debutant, Mudassar Contractor (26), came to the rescue as Sanjan reached a defendable total of 182 in 39.5 overs.

In reply, Stoke endured a miserable start, as only two batsmen managed to record double figures, with Gustav Walsh (20) proving to be the best of the bunch in the face of Mashrur Shaikh’s (5-12) devastating form with the ball.

Aqib Achchu and Aliasgar Patel both claimed wickets to decimate the Stoke line-up as Sanjan dismissed six batsmen for ducks to win with 18 overs left and send a message to the rest of the league.

Bloody Lads finished their season on a high with a dominant 100-run victory over The Camel on Hackney’s North Marsh.

After a tentative start, Ben Boorman (27) and Jack Ensor (95) upped the run-rate and a last-wicket partnership of 36 between Sheldon Greenland (32) and Sahil Varma took the Lads to a competitive 229.

In response, only Cyrus Mehta (45) made runs as the Lads’ attack ripped through Camel’s batting, with Jack Eve (5-36) and Ensor (4-27) inflicting the damage to ensure the Lads had something to celebrate.

Elsewhere, in their game against London Fields CC, Centurion won the toss and elected to bat in a game that remained evenly poised with Centurion 117-5.

Phil Clark finished an impressive eight overs with figures of 2-19 and a strong spell by Ben Sanders (4-40) meant Centurion only posted another 40 runs to finish on 157.

London Fields started the chase well as they made 57 before the loss of their first wicket but, once Centurion turned to spin, the runs dried up and wickets began to fall.

However, Steve Fernbank kept a cool head to finish with a well-paced 55, as London Fields ran out winners by five wickets.

Clapton and Oval beat Baring Up by 40 runs in a nervous, cagey game thanks to the strong start from Kaspar Pedersen (39), who found the boundary at regular intervals, before top edging one to the man at gully.

Kerry Tyrrell (58) and Ismail Matvad (38) kept the runs ticking over, with their side finishing on a decent 188-5 after 40 overs.

Baring batted diligently against a good seam attack, and a strong partnership for the fifth wicket, led by Mitch Greenham (43), took them within sight of the target with 15 overs to go.