Royal Sovereign produced a shock as they beat North East London Cricket League leaders London Fields by 29 runs in a thrilling contest that ebbed and flowed.

Fields, who had previously enjoyed an unbeaten campaign, lost the toss at Millfields and ninth-placed Sovereign laid a strong foundation through openers Luke Browne and Evans Willie, before the latter was bowled by Taz Miller for 32.

Tight fielding in the middle overs helped to slow the run-rate as several Sovereign batsmen got starts, but a disciplined performance with the ball backed up by excellent fielding meant they never cut loose.

Tom Goodwin, celebrating his 30th birthday, replaced Miller (1-42) and bowled outstandingly to take 5-48 – including the prized wicket of top-scorer Browne for 76 – to limit Sovereign to a seemingly below-par 231-7.

The leaders’ response got off to a flyer with Sam Barrett in particularly fine form, hitting boundaries around the wicket on his way to an imperious 82 from 83 balls.

He lost opening partner Paul Teasdale (19) to a smart run-out by Ian Donatien and Ken Willock, but received some support from Dave Lane (26).

However, Barrett eventually fell to debutant spinner Sham Rahman (2-44), and Lane was smartly stumped by Willock off the bowling of Nick Franks.

Franks then proceeded to run through the tail as scoreboard pressure continued to mount, finishing with club record figures of 6-31 as Fields fell short.

In the weekend’s other game, second-placed Daman closed the gap after a five-wicket victory over Coach and Horses at Springfield Park.

Coach got off to a fine start, with the openers racing to 68 in 11 overs before Daman’s seam attack pegged back the top order.

The home side were in trouble as the wickets began to tumble, with 96 on the scoreboard and five wickets down, but a fightback by Sohel Shah (34 not out) and Will Povey (31) guided them to a total of 180 in the 40th over.

Daman did not waste any time chasing, with Owais Salim and Miyadad Issufmia hitting 37 off the first five overs.

The visitors then had Enayat Faquir (43) to thank as his studious innings brought the away side a comfortable five-wicket victory inside 36 overs.

Baring Up failed to field a team in their fixture with The Camel, who were awarded a walkover to move up into mid-table.