BILLERICAY knocked Wanstead & Snaresbrook off the top of the Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division standings with a stunning five-wicket win.

Billericay dismissed their high-flying opponents for just 126 before reaching the required total for the loss of five wickets.

And Billericay skipper Lee Knight was full of praise for his team.

“The boys bowled and fielded brilliantly as they have done for most of the season to be fair,” said Knight.

“It was good to be able to knock off the runs this time around and secure the win against a very good side.

The pleasing thing for me is that the wickets and runs are being shared around the team so we aren’t reliant on just one or two players to perform.

“But hopefully we can continue to perform in this manner as there are some important fixtures around the corner.”

Wanstead batted first in Saturday’s clash but lost wickets at regular intervals as they struggled to deal with the Billericay attack.

Adam Marchant was the pick of the bowlers as he took three wickets for 41 runs but he was not the only one causing problems.

Ross Poulton (2-23), Robert Rayner (2-24) and Darren Ironside (2-32) also made vital contributions as Wanstead made an uncharacteristically low total.

Zain Shahzad, batting at nine, top scored with 23 not out and while former Essex batsman Kishen Velani was the second highest scorer with 16 runs.

Wanstead’s total was also boosted by 26 extras but that did not prove key as Billericay recovered from a shaky start with the bat to triumph.

Aaron Curtis and Darren Ironside fell cheaply early on to leave Billeircay 22-2 but Nick Van Lint steadied the ship with what proved to be an important 27.

David Houghton added 17 before being caught by Arfan Akram off the bowling of Shahzad before Knight and Poulton enjoyed a match winning partnership.

Knight ended unbeaten on 33 while Poulton scored 16 not out to secure Billericay’s most impressive victory of the season so far.

Billericay - who were promoted from Division One last season - now sit seventh in the standings, 26 points clear of the drop zone.

Billericay will now also be looking to build on their morale-boosting win when they head to fifth placed Chelmsford this weekend.

Chelmsford will also be heading into the contest on a high having secured three victories in their last five outings.

The latest of those triumphs came against Brentwood at the weekend with Chelmsford winning an entertaining clash by three wickets.