Southend picked up 18 points at Southchurch Park against a Benfleet side that was thankful its late order batsmen gave their innings some credibility.
Hitting out - Benfleet's Chris Webb at the crease against Southend
The visitors won the toss and opted to bat. Andy Scott (31) and Paul Tremaine (17) were the only top order batsmen to enjoy much luck as wickets tumbled.
Shazad Zadi (6-72) bowled 26 overs straight off in the blistering heat and helped reduce Benfleet to 86-7 after 30 overs.
But cricket manager Ron Stead (39no) rallied the innings with help from Sean Pritchard (27) and Chris Shaw (27), in a parternship worth 60, to reach 174-9 after 52 overs.
Southend's reply got off to a shaky start as the hosts were reduced to 103-5 at one point, with only Dave Aldridge (31) and Numan Khan (15) prospering.
Baiju Solanki (69no) and Steve Johnson (21no) then stepped up to take the seasiders past the winning target with 10 overs to spare.
Chris Shaw claimed 4-87 for Benfleet.
Published Monday August 9, 2004
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