Wanstead & Snaresbrook captain Joe-Ellis Grewal praised the performance of Bradley De Villiers in their narrow victory over Hadleigh & Thundersley.

The Herons chased down a score of 217 all out with just less than two overs to spare to keep their place at the top of the Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division.

De Villiers took 5 wickets for his side before helping them over the line with a score of 29 in bat.

"It was a bit of a close game to be fair. We bowled really well to restrict them to 217," Ellis-Grewal said.

"We looked down and out and needed about 40 off of five overs.

"Bradley hit 29 off 12 balls and won us the game. The way he went about it to get us over the line was brilliant to watch."

Darius Vapiwala opened with 14 for Hadleigh but De Villiers took the next two wickets for just four runs each.

A strong performance from Adam Soilleux (72) left Wanstead a much bigger score to chase as Ellis-Grewal eventually got him out.

There was time for Misem Ali Syed Zaidi to add another 22 as the Herons prepared to chase 217.

After a slow start with Adnan Akram dismissed for one and Hassan Chowdhury out for five, Robin Das entered to reach 32.

Tom Cummins then posted 31 before a strong captain's performance from Ellis Grewal who hit 47 before he was caught.

Still needing a significant number of runs, De Villiers hit 29 to help keep his side 10 points clear of second placed Brentwood.