Shenfield saw their survival hopes in the Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division hit by defeat against bottom club Southend.

Put into bat by the visitors, they saw their top three of Ollie Ekers (27), Mitchell Edwards (68) and Jamie Walton (55) all make starts.

And Jack Potticary hit a superb 128 to help lift the total to a challenging 323-6 declared inside 46 overs.

Essex staffer Aaron Beard then dismissed Southend opener Lewis Wright for a duck, but it proved a false dawn as Southend captain Oliver Wagstaff (72) and Charlie Lockhart (58) hit half-centuries in a second-wicket stand.

Mitchell Edwards removed both batsmen and also accounted for Thomas Phillippe (45), before Carl Lees was run out for 76.

Southend kept up with the run rate, though, and went on to claim a two-wicket win with three balls left in the 66th over.

Edwards finished with 5-86 from a 21-over spell, as Beard (2-48) banned a brace but defeat left Shenfield, who claimed 11 bonus points, just six above the bottom two with two games remaining.