Wanstead captain Joe Ellis-Grewal admitted it felt great to end their Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier Division title-winning season with a good run chase.

Having put Hadleigh into bat in their last match of the campaign, Ellis-Grewal saw the hosts post 259-8 as Jahansher Akbar (3-46) and Kishen Velani (2-34) shone with the ball.

But Zain Shahzad (20) and Tom Simmons (40) put on a quickfire 60 for the first wicket, before Robin Das (37) and Velani, who hit 56 off 41 balls, added 75 for the third.

And an unbroken 63-run stand between Zoraiz Saeed and Adnan Akram (38 not out) saw the Herons to a four-wicket win with eight overs to spare.

"Because it was our last game, we changed it a bit and it wasn't until the next day we spoke and said 'we've chased 260 in 40 overs'," said Ellis-Grewal.

"We went out and played positively and to chase that quickly was a nice way to end the season.

"We had a reasonable atatck but the wicket wasn't that bad and it's always a fast-scoring ground so 250-270 was probably par and it normally spins a bit in the second innings.

"We wanted to get our last lot of fielding out of the way and then chase but they got about 30 more than they should have.

"We set out with good intent with Zain and Simmo. Zain had been threatening to not play next year if I didn't let him open!

"Robin hadn't played for us for about eight weeks but looked a million dollars and Kish was great as well.

"Adnan and Zoraiz saw us home. It was a really good chase as the wicket was starting to spin and get a bit difficult."

A 13th win in 18 outings left Wanstead with 321 points, some 44 clear of runners-up Brentwood.

And Ellis-Grewal ranked this latest title success as one of the club's best, adding: "I don't think any team has won the league with as many points and it's by far the youngest side we've had winning the title.

"But the way we won it, we didn't really let anyone get a look-in. When the pressure was on, we came through.

"And with the amount of kids we played, we always had at least a couple of under-18s in the side.

"I don't think I've had my best XI out all season, with four of my best players barely playing a full season between them.

"And with the twos also winning so comfortably, it's already exciting times for next year."

How they finished

Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier

P W D L Pts
Wanstead 18 13 3 2 321
Brentwood 18 11 1 6 277
Colchester 18 9 4 5 255
Hadleigh 18 9 2 7 252
Hutton 18 8 1 9 237
Chelmsford 18 9 1 8 233
Hornchurch 18 7 4 7 219
Chingford 18 4 6 8 191
Belhus 18 5 2 1 178
Shenfield 18 2 2 14 191