Wanstead really looking forward to T20 regional final

The Herons head to Basingstoke & North Hants to take on Wimbledon in their South semi-final on Sunday, as Swansea meet Harborne in the other tie.

And the winners will face the North final winners, looking to succeed Hornchurch as champions and book a trip to the European T10 next year.

“It’s hard not to look at the T20 on Sunday,” said Ellis-Grewal, ahead of Wanstead’s Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier Division trip to Chelmsford on Saturday.

“We were disappointed to lose in the National [against Bexley] the other week and we’re all up for it.

“I think the T20 suits a lot of our guys. We’ve got Robin Das back [from Essex duty], which always makes a difference and we look strong, but anything can happen.

“We’re looking forward to the day. Wimbledon are a good side but hopefully we can get through that and into the final [against Swansea or Harborne] and see how we go.

“Everyone is really looking forward to it.”

Wanstead head into the weekend on the back of a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Colchester, which ended their title hopes.

The visitors slipped to 30-3 as Zain Shahzad (2-18) struck with the new ball, before a 127-run stand for their fourth wicket.

And they went from 157-3 to 179-8 as Yuvraj Odedra (3-40) and Ali Zeb (2-15) had late success.

“I lost the toss as per usual but we bowled really well on a decent wicket,” added Ellis-Grewal.

“Zain bowled like he has all year and Kish [Velani] was brilliant.

“We made it tough for them to score, got some early wickets before a couple of their guys dug in.

“We kept the pressure on and once we got the two set batters out, we were able to keep them to a below-par total.

“Yuvraj was fantastic at the death, nailing his yorkers, and I brought Ali Zeb on for an over and kept him on for the first time at the death and he got the job done.”

Herons reached their target with 17 overs to spare after contributions from Tom Simmons (35), Haaris Usman (39), Kishen Velani (28) and Odedra (44 not out).

And Ellis-Grewal wants to win their last two matches to finish as high as possible.

“People chipped in with the bat, getting in and out,” he said.

“A couple of times they got two wickets quickly but Kish was patient and Yuvraj was brilliant down the order at six, it was a really good innings.

“It looked simple in the end but we’ve not played that well in the league this season.

“It was an important game for us, being close to the middle-lower end of the table.

“We could still get fourth if we win our last two games and other results go our way but Chelmsford is a tough place to go. We want to finish strong.”