Wanstead captain Joe Ellis-Grewal paid tribute to the youngsters who helped his side clinch the Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier Division title last weekend.

Ellis-Grewal was one of five senior players to miss their match against Chingford, as they attended the wedding of Jonathan Das in Portugal.

But Ali Zeb hit a maiden half-century and took four wickets, as Phil Thoufick and Harith Wajid also had success with the ball, to help the Herons to a 27-run win.

And Ellis-Grewal said: "We were on an all-day wine tour at a vineyard outside Porto and were sat at lunch with our phones out on the table watching the live stream, saw the winning runs and had a cheer and then Facetime with the boys.

"I've had a lot of messages saying how well the youngsters did stepping up and we've been joking about retiring in a year or two, the future is in safe hands. It's brilliant to see."

Wanstead needed one point to ensure top spot but were 73-4 before Zeb (51) and stand-in captain Yuvraj Odedra (35) put on 69 and saw them to their target.

Adnan Akram hit 41 off 33 balls to help lift the total to 214 and Ellis-Grewal added: "The plan was to bowl first, get three wickets for the point we needed and see what happened, but Chingford needed a win to guarantee their survival, it was a wet wicket, we lost the toss and got put into bat.

"Chingford brought their strongest side, with a lot of senior players and Jamal Richards [of Essex].

"It wasn't looking great, they bowled pretty well, but we had a really good partnership between Yuvraj and Ali Zeb, who was playing only his third game and batting for the second time and played a really mature innings.

"Adnan was brilliant towards the end to get us up to a defendable total but we were not expecting too much as the wicket dried out and got better."

Chingford reached 60-2 before 15-year-old Zeb claimed his first wicket and the hosts kept chipping away, with Odedra (3-36) wrapping up the win.

"Zain and Yuvraj bowled really well and Harith bowled Jamal with an unbelievable ball which was great," said Ellis-Grewal.

"Then Ali Zeb, after keeping wicket the week before, takes 4-45 with his leg spin and Phil gets one with his left-arm spin.

"Bilal Dar kept wicket and Shawaiz Saeed is only 13. On paper it looks comfortable but we had six under-18s, four of whom were under-15."

Club stalwart Akram added: "It was by far the youngest team I’ve played in during my time at the club, so that was really pleasing to see and be part of.

"The lads really appreciated the effort Jegsy has put in to get this team playing close to its potential. It was even more special seeing so many of the players do so well that had come through the age groups."

The newly crowned champions head to Hadleigh for their last game of the season on Saturday but will not be resting on their laurels with the silverware already secured.

"If we win on Saturday I think it will be the highest points total, so the incentive is there to go and get the win," said Ellis-Grewal.

"All those guys were happy to get a game last weekend and we've kept three, we're not at full strength.

"The twos won their league as well, with one of the guys from the threes [Tom Wright] putting on a hundred for the ninth wicket, and it's really exciting. We're hoping to go out on a high on Saturday."