Herons recorded a 114-run triumph at home at the weekend

Joe Ellis-Grewal was relieved Wanstead & Snaresbrook recorded their first Shepherd Neame Essex Premier Division win of the season with a 114-run victory at home to Belhus on Saturday.

The Herons began their league campaign with a defeat at Brentwood the previous weekend, while they also went out of the National Club Championship after losing to Waltham.

Against Belhus, though, the Overton Drive team returned to winning ways in fine fashion.

Wanstead declared on 290-8 after electing to bat first, with Hassan Chowdhury (89), Feroze Khushi (85) and Tom Cummins (52) all scoring half-centuries.

Aron Nijjar then impressed with the ball, finishing with figures of 6-44 as Belhus were all out for 176 in reply.

The victory could kick-start the Herons' league campaign and skipper Ellis-Grewal was happy his team responded to last weekend's defeats in style.

"After the disappointment of losing a couple of games last week, there was a little extra pressure on us to win on Saturday and thankfully we delivered," he said.

"We said that Belhus offered something of the unknown as they're in the Premier Division for the first time, but it was a good performance from us.

"We showed that we're still a good team and it was important to get the first league win of the season."

Wanstead's success over Belhus was built on a strong batting display and Ellis-Grewal expressed pleasure at what he saw from the hosts in their innings.

"Our batting maybe hasn't been as good as it should be for a little while given the talent we have in the squad, but it was really good on Saturday," he added.

"Hassan came out and was really confident up top, so it was a shame he couldn't go on and get his century.

"Feroze and Tom had a brilliant partnership and it was good to see two really talented players combine well.

"Their partnership helped us get to a really good score, which ultimately won us the match."