KHALIPHA Cele played a solid innings to reach his second century in as many weeks as Mistley Cricket Club soared to their third straight Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship victory.

The Swans prevailed by 62 runs at Halstead to follow up their first division triumphs against Ipswich and Lakenheath.

South African Cele was again in imperious form, accumulating 129 not out from 125 balls and finishing with some aggressive shots.

It came hot on the heels of his 112 the previous Saturday.

"Saturday’s win was great and showed how we’ve moved forward in the last few weeks," said proud captain Graeme Butcher.

"It was a game we might have lost earlier in the season but, with renewed belief, we ended up comfortable victors.

"We were thankful to KC for getting us to a competitive total and, as a batting group, we need to do better.

"But once we had a score on the board our bowlers showed fantastic discipline and I never really doubted we'd see it home.

"We’ll certainly be looking to extend our winning run to four with the visit to Maldon on Saturday.

"Confidence is high among the group and we know we have areas where we can improve, which is encouraging.

"Hopefully we’ll be looking back on another successful day come Saturday evening."

After losing the toss and being put into bat, Mistley scored 233 for nine in their 50 overs.

Young opener Sam Burkitt scored 18 before being caught when the score was 48.

Runs flowed relatively quickly with James Scott and Cele at the crease, until Scott was caught for 19.

Cele's masterful innings was the highlight, setting himself to bat as much of the innings as possible, well-supported by an impressive knock from Harry Parkes, who scored 34 in a partnership of 66.

In reply, Halstead were restricted to 171 for seven in their 50 overs.

Jimmy Goff was their star performer, taking five wickets for 35 runs in his ten overs - his first-ever first-team five-for - and removing top-order danger men Neale Dakin, Mark Johnson, Joshua Wells, Harry Pritchard and Liam Jones.

Cele also showed his talent with the ball by returning two wickets for 25 runs.

Mistley’s bowlers were well-supported by energetic fielding, making run-scoring difficult for the Halstead batsmen.

Equally important was good running during Mistley’s batting and this was a feature of Cele’s innings.

Elsewhere, the Swans' second team lost by five wickets at home to Walsham-le-Willows, in a division three contest at New Road.

The Swans' third team were in division nine south action and notched their first win of the season in a close, low-scoring match against St Margaret's second XI.

After scoring 88, they bowled their opponents out for 84, with Robin Mills taking five for 34.

Mistley successfully chased 220 for the loss of just two wickets in their Two Counties Sunday League match against Wivenhoe.

Captain George Hutton led from the front, scoring 110 not out from 104 balls.

Tom Young scored 55 not out, supporting his captain in an unbroken partnership of 105.