Wanstead & Snaresbrook captain Joe Ellis-Grewal wants to keep the pressure on leaders Chelmsford but says they must beat ‘bogey’ side Brentwood in order to achieve that.
The Herons make the trip to the Old County Ground on Saturday to take on Aaron West’s side as the season slowly draws to a close.
They currently sit second in the Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier Division just 13 points behind leaders Chelmsford.
“They’ve been a bogey side for us this season and had the better over us, so we know we’ve got to go over there and play well, they’re always a tough side to beat,” said Ellis-Grewal.
“We can only win the games in front of us, hopefully we can get another win to keep the pressure on Chelmsford.
“Chelmsford have played good cricket and deserve to be at the top. We just have to keep winning and hope a few results go our way.”
A seven-wicket victory over Hadleigh & Thundersley helped them keep the pace on leaders Chelmsford at the weekend.
Visitors Hadleigh won the toss and elected to bat first but they were bowled out for 76 with superb bowling efforts from the likes of captain Ellis-Grewal (4-10), Zain Shahzad (3-22), Mohammed Fayyaz Khan (2-14), and Kishen Velani (1-24).
The Herons then cruised to victory in just 16 overs thanks to Velani (18), Adnan Akram (24 not out) and Nabeel Aziz (26 not out).
“I thought we were brilliant on Saturday, it looked a decent wicket, and if I had won the toss I would have batted first as well,” Ellis-Grewal said.
“They won and wanted to bat, the way we bowled was brilliant, we were missing a few of our regulars but Zain was fantastic and was making the ball talk.
“Myself and a few others picked up a few wickets later on and to bowl them out for that score on what was probably a 200 or 220 wicket was a brilliant first half from us.”
However, Wanstead did have a nervy start with the bat with key batsmen getting out quickly in reply.
“Three of my best batters in the side are Arfan Akram, Kishen Velani and Robin Das, and we were 24-3 and all three of them were out which made it nervy," added Ellis-Grewal.
“It was brilliant to see Nabeel and Adnan do well and that just shows the strength and depth that we’ve got. Those two carried us over the line, which was great to see.”
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