Upminster’s Under 14s claimed the Shenfield Cricket Academy Indoor League title on Sunday after a brilliant all round performance against Hutton. Having lost to Hutton in the group stages Upminster knew they faced a tough task, but the side produced their best display of the winter to claim the title.

Having won the toss Upminster chose to bat first and Kiran Kullar and Matthew Bright got them off to a flying start as they reached 48-0 after four overs. Bright was run out thanks to some excellent Hutton fielding and this brought Ellis Pickering to the crease. Him and Kullar continued to keep the scoreboard ticking before Kullar reached the retirement mark. Amani and Nathan Brown fell quickly, but Josh Mason then joined Pickering and they ran hard between the wickets to move Upminster towards a good total, and although Pickering had to retire as well soon after, Mason and Jack Helen
got Upminster to a total of 111-3.

Hutton made a good start in reply, and despite two brilliant pieces of fielding leading to two run outs, they reached 56-2 after five overs. Hutton’s batsmen continued to keep up with the run rate until the last two overs, and they eventually required 18 runs to win from the final six deliveries. Ellis Pickering took on the responsibility and picked up a wicket from the first ball of the over and from the third ball of the over he struck again with a marvelous caught and bowled as Upminster won by 7 runs.

Earlier in the day the U10s lost out in their final, against Shenfield. Batting first Upminster lost early wickets, two of them to run outs, and could only reach a total of 62 all out. Upminster started well in the Shenfield reply, picking up two early wickets to reduce the hosts to 20-2 after four overs, but Shenfield’s strong batting line up eventually saw them home by five wickets with plenty of time to spare.

Special mention must go to Ross Taylor for his excellent captaincy of the Team throughout the campaign, even though he is only an Under 9, and to Gus Siggins who finished at the top of the wicket taking charts for the Under 10 competition.

Well done to both Teams for their excellent performances over the last three months, and many thanks to the competition organisers for running such a great
tournament once again.