SHAUN Bragg's last-ball batting heroics underlined to captain Jake Wakelin that his Witham Cricket Club side have what it takes to last the course in the race for the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship title.

Having cruised to victories in their previous two division one games, third-placed Witham were made to work harder for their win when they headed to Woolpit last weekend.

Having restricted the hosts to 210 for seven from their 50 overs, Witham had James Smith and Wakelin hitting half centuries in their reply as they closed in on their target, however, two runs were still needed to get them over the line with one ball to go.

Brothers Shaun and Carl Bragg were out in the middle, with Shaun facing, and when he launched the final ball of the match over mid-wicket, the win was secured and Witham were celebrating another victory.

Wakelin said: "It was a great game, but it was one of those where if you win it's magic and if you are on the losing side then it's heart-breaking.

"We weren't at our best if I'm honest and maybe we didn't capitalise on opportunities as batters.

"It was a different game to what we'd seen in the last couple of games as it wasn't quite as straightforward as they had been.

"It was good to get over the line, though, and it showed that we win as a team and we work so hard for each other.

"What I learned about our team is that we'll never give up.

"We could have bowled a bit better and maybe could have had more runs on the board from the top of our batting order, but we got ourselves close enough so we could get over the line.

"Shaun and Carl Bragg were there at the end and Shaun was facing the final ball knowing we needed two runs to win, so to see him hit the ball over mid-wicket for those runs was a great moment.

"Sometimes you see the professionals in teams get all the headlines, but Shaun is an unsung hero of ours.

"He bowls such a good line and length, but he's not known for his batting and seeing him hold his nerve to get the runs we needed was a great relief."

The win kept Witham third in the division one table with nine games gone, but, behind current leaders Wivenhoe, there are just four points separating five teams and Wakelin knows how important it is to keep his team's unbeaten run going.

"The main thing was to keep our run going because it is just so tight," he added.

"Wivenhoe are out in front at the moment but there are still 13 games to go and a lot can happen so it's so important in a league this tight to keep putting wins on the board.

"It's going to go all the way, but we're keeping ourselves in a good position at the moment."

Witham now face two weekends against the two sides currently lodged in the bottom two in the table - starting with a home game against rock-bottom Ipswich on Saturday, but Wakelin insists his team will have no complacency.

He said: "We have Ipswich on Saturday and then Lakenheath the week after but we certainly won't be taking anything for granted.

"That's the last thing we can do and we just have to go out and play our game.

"Billy Moulton-Day is looking doubtful for this weekend, though, as he has a bit of a groin strain and could do with resting it, but we have plenty of options.

"Ollie Cooke and Leroy Facey are playing well and Ben McKendry has been taking wickets in the seconds, while Luke Brown and Jack Pawsey are also pushing for places. "We just have to make sure there is no complacency and put in another strong performance."