BASILDON & PITSEA made it two wins on the spin as they defeated Stanford-le-Hope by eight runs in a thrilling derby match.

The men from Mopsies Park were indebted to Jon Bonnett’s unbeaten 54 as they made 204 all out from 49.1 overs before bowling their visitors out for 196 in 43.2 overs.

Ross Poulton led the reply with 75 runs and was the last wicket to fall as Stanford closed in on victory.

“It was a really good game,” said Basildon captain Michael Gray, whose team beat Benfleet the previous weekend.

“One minute it was going our way and the next they were right up there but fortunately we got the last couple of wickets.

“Ross Poulton batted really well for Stanford. We bowled him out off a no ball early on and we finally got him out last wicket.

“Mo (Ali) and Dan (Bedford) bowled really well for us and Jon rescued us when it looked like we might only get around 160.

“We were well chuffed to get to 200, which I thought was a competitive score.

“That made it two wins on the bounce and our season is kicking off now.”

Basildon struggled early on and lost their top three batsmen for seven runs before Lloyd Lambert (36), Jamie White (34) and Gray (11) got the scoreboard ticking over.

Bonnett’s unbeaten 54 added substance to the innings and Muhammad Ali (16) and Luke Daw (15) added valuable contributions against an attack led by Poulton (3-26), Dylan Eginton (2-23), James Pearn (2-29) and Greg Barr (2-41).

Barr (nine) was an early casualty but Martin Leslie and captain Lee Knight both his 26s to get the run chase going.

Poulton’s 75 was the highlight but Adam Knight (13) was the only other batsman into double figures as the lower order wickets fell cheaply.

Ali (3-35), Bedford (3-41) and Lambert (2-25) did the main damage, with Jamie White (1-4) claiming Poulton’s wicket.