The strains of "We are the Champions" were heard well into the night as Halstead overcame Wivenhoe to win the Two Counties division one title.
The victory was a fitting curtain-raiser for the celebrations in the marquee following a very successful Cricket Week, with the icing on the cake being this tense encounter.
Halstead needed a win to claim their sixth title and beat Mildenhall to t
he finishing post.
A good crowd watched a thrilling match right to the end with the result going to the wire. Halstead were inserted by Wivenhoe and started very cautiously with Matt Spatcher setting a reasonable foundation with a cultured 34 runs.
However, Tonkinson removed Gupta and Cooper fairly cheaply, Halstead slipping to 76-3. Tom Philp (56) and Chris Barton (30) then rebuilt the innings with a stand of 77 to give the team a platform.
However, a fine spell of fast bowling from South African quickie De Wett (7-50) saw Halstead 200 all out in 47 overs.
In reply, the visitors were well placed at 82-1 and looked on course to cause an upset before David Elsbury was brought into the attack. He turned in another great display of spin bowling in combination with Charlie Douglas-Hughes as they cleaned up the Wivenhoe innings for 152.
Elsbury finished with figures of 7-43 and when Alec Pyman stumped the final batsman off his bowling it sparked wild celebrations among the players and home support.
Halstead are promoted to the East Anglian Premier League next season.
Halstead
M Spatcher lbw b Tonkinson34
P Cooper c M Durrell b Tonkinson18
A Gupta c M Durrell b Tonkinson12
T Philp b De Wett56
C Barton b De Wett30
M Johnson b De Wett9
S Steel b De Wett12
C Douglas-Hughes7
A Pyman c Dunstan b De Wett2
G Cook (jnr) lbw b De Wett1
D Elsbury not out0
extras19
Total (all out)200
Bowling: H De Wett 13-1-50-7; P Tonkinson 11-2-48-3.
Wivenhoe
G Dunstan c Douglas-Hughes
b Elsbury40
M Durrell c Pyman b Philp16
W Morgan lbw b Douglas-Hughes39
H De Wett b Elsbury2
T Harwood b Elsbury1
A Lait c Steel b Douglas-Hughes3
R Stacey b Elsbury1
R Pulford c Spatcher b Elsbury15
P Tonkinson lbw b Elsbury1
T Durrell st Pyman b Elsbury8
S Stowe not out8
extras8
Total (all out) 142
Bowling: T Philp 8-2-30-1; C Douglas-Hughes 13-2-37-2; D Elsbury 17-4-43-7.
Halstead III won thir division eight match at home to Stowmarket by 87 runs. Halstead batted first and reached 197, thanks to a fine innings of 44 by Will Clarke and a useful knock by Andy Jones, normally a stalwart bowler.
The miserly bowling duo of Cooper and Jones as usual made it very difficult for the Stowmarket batsmen to make inroads.
The full article contains 489 words and appears in Suffolk Free Press newspaper.
