Hornchurch had to settle for a draw after being frustrated by Premier Division rivals Ilford.
Captain Roy Smith chose to bat first after winning the toss and saw Jamie Sorrell (26) and Billy Gordon (20) make starts.
Zeeshan Khan (39) put on 71 with Brian Barnard, who hit four sixes and 10 fours on his way to 128 fromm just 99 balls as wickets fell at the other end.
Barnard was ninth man out when falling to Hussnain Kazmi (3-55), while Essex all-rounder Ashar Zaidi finished with 5-78 as Hornchurch were dismissed for 273.
Mehad Khan and Gordon (2-23) struck early in Ilford’s reply to reduce the visitors to 27-3, with Zaidi (33) and Gurdeep Kandola (30) falling to Taqi Abbas to make it 85-5.
But Saurav Prabhakaer and Hamza Muhammad held firm after that, putting on an unbroken 70-run stand to see Ilford close on 155-5 from 68 overs.
Prabhakar finished unbeaten on 36, having faced 126 deliveries, and Muhammad was 33 not out from 125 balls as Abbas finished with figures of 20-7-36-2.
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