Westcliff suffered a hiccough as they bid to win their fifth win of the season away to Shenfield.
But John Pratt's men lost by three wickets as lowly Shenfield picked up 20 valuable points.
Pratt (68) anchored the Westcliff innings and found support from John Harrison (59) and John Edwards (59).
Matt Weaver led the way for the hosts with a commanding 136 in their reply. J Walker added 53 as Shenfield declared on 281-7 after 52 overs.
Skipper Pratt did the most damage by claiming 3-53, with Eric Langer (2-54) and Tim Wade (2-72) also getting among the wickets.
The Chalkwell Park side picked up seven points, but Shenfield grabbed 20 to strengthen their bid to avoid relegation.
Elsewhere, South Woodford's convincing 95-run win over Saffron Walden, with Akbar claiming 5-30, enabled Wanstead to move clear at the top of the table in picking up 11 points, but being unable to claim the last wicket against Loughton who finished 33 runs adrift.
Published Monday August 2, 2004
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