Witham Cricket Club captain Jake Wakelin admitted that it was their bowlers' turn to get the team out of a sticky situation as they earned back-to-back Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one victories.

Having seen the batsmen come to the fore after the bowling unit hadn't fired against Mistley the week before, an under-par batting display at Hadleigh was countered by a superb bowling show in a rousing 72-run victory.

Wakelin said his team's score of 180 - lead by a half century for Forster Mutizwa - was lower than they would have liked to defend, but they responded well with the ball.

The skipper's figures of four for 12 and Greg Stephens' three for 23 ensured they closed out the win.

Wakelin said: "It was a pretty emphatic win in the end even though we didn't play that great if I'm honest.

"The week before, against Mistley, we didn't bowl that great but batted well and this week it was the reverse where we bowled well but didn't bat.

"The bowlers got the batsmen out of trouble this week.

"When we finished our innings, we felt 180 was a bit below par, but there was a bit in the wicket for the spinners and we still felt we could defend it.

"In fact it wasn't a bad score considering we had been in trouble at 60 for five and we were rescued as Forster (Mutizwa) came in and had a century partnership with Ollie Cooke.

"Ollie got 35 and Forster a very good 60 and they gave us something to bowl at.

"It could actually have been more as they got us to 160 for five and we were all out for 180 so it was a bit wasteful at the end, but we still fancied our chances.

"Hadleigh made a decent start and were 48 for one, but when myself and Greg Stephens came on we got them to 80 for eight, bowling 19 overs and taking seven wickets and that pretty much ensured a good win."

On the back of the win against Mistley, Witham are now up to sixth in the division one table - just seven points off fourth-placed Coggeshall, who they play on Saturday - and Wakelin said he is seeing confidence returning after a run where they won just one of six games.

He added: "A few weeks ago, when we had a spell of four to five weeks when we were struggling for availability and when that happens you can lose confidence.

"That's what happened with us, but in the last two weeks, we've chased down a score of 290 and now defended a score of 180 and shows that we can do well on both sides of the game.

"I'm feeling in a good rhythm now with my bowling that I wasn't before, Forster hit a really good half century last weekend and Greg Stephens has kept taking wickets so it shows how our big players are starting to stand up more."