It was a brilliant day of cricket for Upminster’s junior sides on Sunday, with three sides claiming cup final wins as the season neared its conclusion. The day was topped off with a win for the Women’s 2nd XI which saw them all but secure the Division 3 title at Coopers.

The day began with the U15 Girls taking on Hutton in their Central Cup Final at the Polo Ground. Hutton reached 59-2 at one stage and looked in a good position to post a big score, but Lauren Plumb and Bethan Libby picked up three wickets each as Upminster fought back. Some late runs from Elena Dale helped lift the Hutton score to 132-7. Felicity Russell was in good form Upminster in their reply, making 31 from 33 balls, but Dale kept her side in the game with two wickets. However, Coco Thomas and Libby kept their heads to calmly take their side to a seven wicket win with more than three overs to spare. The victory means the side completed a league and cup double, having secured the league title two weeks ago. Many thanks to Carole Manek and everyone at Hutton CC for hosting a brilliant occasion.

Back at Upminster Park a large crowd was in place for the U12s Central Cup Final between Upminster and Brentwood. Upminster Park had also hosted the morning U10s final between Billericay and Writtle, where Billericay took the honours. In the U12s final, Upminster won the toss and elected to bowl first, and this decision was vindicated in the first over when Billy Sheridan struck. Dev Patel and James Williamson rebuilt well, but all of Upminster’s attack stuck to the task and kept the scoring rate in check. Brentwood found some late boundaries, but Upminster will have been pleased to restrict the visitors to 106-5. Upminster soon found themselves 11-2 in reply, but Sheridan and Archie Lowe got things back on track. Lowe fell for 18 but Sheridan calmly accumulated his runs all around the ground and reached the retirement mark of 35. His exit saw the required run rate climb a little, and ten runs were needed from the last over in front of a packed and nervous pavilion. Oscar Sousanna and Oscar Hayes showed no nerves though, with Sousanna smashing the fourth ball of the over to the square-leg boundary to win the game.

The last final of the day saw Upminster and Harold Wood face one another in the Central Cup Final. Upminster decided to bat first on a flat looking track, and Gus Siggins and Zoran Suneel made full use of the Powerplay, making 63 without loss from the first six overs of the innings. Siggins continued to find the boundary at regular intervals, and when he reached the retirement mark of 50 (from just 30 deliveries), Ross Taylor and Suneel continued to keep the scoreboard moving quickly. Suneel also reached his half century and duly retired, before Jamie Green lifted a huge maximum over a packed pavilion. Taylor fell for 34 and Green for 19, but some good late running from Joshan Narbheram and Jack Hayward took Upminster to an excellent total of 189-3. Aayyush Baluja smashed the first ball of the Wood reply for six over mid-wicket and edged the second ball to third-man for four, but was then out from the third delivery as Narbheram held a steepler off Green to give Upminster a crucial breakthrough. Green struck again to remove Shafi for eight, Hayward taking a good catch at mid-on, but Saad Ali Baryar and Anik Samad ensured Wood were still in the game as the halfway stage of the innings approached. However, the game changed when Hayward held on to an excellent catch at long-on off the bowling of Suneel to dismiss Ali Baryar for 45. Samad and Eesa kept trying to keep up with the required run rate, which was now at around 12 an over, but as the light faded Suneel and Mit Shah held on to two brilliant catches in the gloom as Upminster closed in on victory. Green closed the game out in the final over with two more wickets to end with 4-26, while Tom Young’s figures of 0-15 from four overs in a game of nearly 350 runs were excellent.

A mile down the road at Coopers, the Women’s 2nd XI overcame Walthamstow by four wickets, a result which combined with Frenford’s win over Billericay means Upminster have all but sealed the Division Three title. Lauren Plumb continued from where she had left off in the morning with two early wickets, and skipper Ange Green also picked up a brace to put Stow’ on the backfoot, but visiting captain Emmanuel made 28 in the middle order and Marsland also added some late runs to lift the score to a challenging 147-6. Upminster’s experienced opening pair of Karen Burley (25) and Sarah Lowrie (43) made an excellent start to the reply, putting on 41 for the first wicket, before Green, Alex Semon and Jami Armes all reached double figures to keep Upminster on track for victory. Maisie Coles and Kara Smith then calmly saw their side over the line. Upminster conclude their season next Sunday when they welcome Benfleet to Coopers.