A virtuoso performance from JJ Smuts helped Upminster to a crucial victory at Ilford, and kept his side very much in the promotion race with five weeks of the Hamro Foundation League season remaining.  Upminster skipper Pulkit Gupta won the toss at Valentines Park and asked Ilford to bat first. Smuts (3-63) and Nehal Butt (2-61) wasted no time in putting their side on top, and with Jamie Green (2-46) also picking up an important scalp, Ilford found themselves 96-6.  Any hopes Upminster had of an early finish were soon put to bed by Prahathen Jayarooban (58) and Hamza Muhammad (62*).  The eighth wicket pair added 109 before Jayarooban was run out by Terry Wyatt, but Muhammad remained until the end of the innings and guided his side to a total of 235-8.  Gupta (39) and Mo Ahmad (37) got the Upminster reply off to an excellent start, but having been 82-0 the visitors soon found themselves in big trouble at 116-5.  However, Smuts remained at the crease and found solid support from Shafiq Rahman, and the pair began to put their side back on top.  The seventh wicket partnership was worth 81 when Rahman fell for 33, but Smuts soon brought up his second ton of the season as Upminster closed in on victory.  The South African ended 101 not out and had Kiran Kullar for company as Upminster won by four wickets with just over three overs remaining.

Upminster had the better of their 2nd XI title showdown with Wanstead and Snaresbrook, but had to settle for a draw at Upminster Park.  Harry Jenkins (39) and Tom Daniels (36) continued their recent good form with an opening stand of 72, but despite runs from Stu Connor, Upminster fell to 148-5 and the innings was very much in the balance.  The experienced duo of John Curtis and Mark Schofield then combined with a fine stand of 78 to put their side in charge.  Curtis made 33 from 30 and when he fell captain Ollie Peck struck an unbeaten 26 from 14 balls to help lift the score.  Schofield finished not out on 49 as the home side ended on 255-6, with Tarun Sharma claiming 3-69 for Wanstead.  All of Wanstead's top order passed 20 as they steadily began their chase, but with the visitors knowing they held the advantage in the table they were understandably not taking too many risks.  Peck (3-52) removed the experienced Arfan Akram for 34, and Andrew Berry (3-49) continued his good form by claiming the scalp of Aryan Ahmed (69) as Upminster pushed for victory, but Wanstead were never in to much danger and secured the draw at 201-7.

The 3rd XI continued their recent good form with a win at Harlow.  The two sides who have been the dominant forces of the Premier Division in recent seasons have both been experiencing mixed campaigns in 2024, but Upminster will now look ahead to the final five games of the season with their hopes of retaining the title still alive.  Mark D'Cruz (3-30) and Ryan Oakes (2-17) put Upminster on top early on, but Atif Mustehsan stood firm to make 49 for the home side.  Mustehsan was removed by Ollie Burley and Ethan Berry and Rob Mack then mopped up the tail as Harlow were bowled out for 122.  Any thoughts that Upminster would have a relaxing afternoon were soon ended by Bilal Javed and Jack Fuller who blew away Upminster's top four to put their side back in the game.  Rob Healy and Nathan French kept their heads and slowly began to put Upminster on top.  Their stand had nearly reached three figures when French fell for 39, and that caused some late panic in the Upminster ranks with three further wickets falling with only a handful of runs required.  However, Healy kept his head and finished 52 not out as Upminster won by two wickets.

A brilliant century from Sam Twine helped the 4th XI to gain a credible draw with runaway leaders Chingford 3s at Coopers.  Twine made a brilliant 103 from 102 deliveries as Upminster piled up a huge total on an excellent batting track.  There were also runs for Matt Ingleson, Will Frost, Joseph Brooks, Stan Moore and skipper Jordan Tolan as Upminster made 303-7.  Despite their lofty position and the favourable conditions, Chingford seemed to show very little appetite to take on the chase.  Ayaz Shah made 51 for the visitors, while Stan Moore claimed 2-24 for Upminster, but the game drifted to a draw with Chingford ending on 178-4.

The 5th XI's promotion hopes were ended as they lost out at Chingford 4s.  Chingford opener Nick Van Arkel was in fine form for the home side, making 77 from just 67 balls to put his side into a good position.  However, fine spells from Kevin Roome (3-52) and Harry Bradford (2-31) brought Upminster back into the game before late runs from Jack Piper helped Chingford to post 194-6.  Stewart Hammond and Michael Pedrick gave Upminster a solid start, and Gary Carr looked in good form in the middle order, but Upminster fell from 72-2 to 102-9 with AJ Shazad doing the damage for Chingford.  Skipper Aalok Latey and last man Kevin Roome showed some fight for Upminster with a last wicket stand of 50, but Upminster were all out for 152 to lose by 42 runs.

A fine century from the returning Matt Burch was not enough to stop the 6th XI falling to defeat against Orsett and Thurrock 5s.  Burch's ton, his second for the club, helped Upminster to pick up eight crucial batting points as they posted 200-9 at Campion.  However, Orsett's batters were in equally fine form and chased down their target for the loss of just one wicket, with more than three overs to spare.

The Mid-Essex XI picked up a crucial win with a brilliant performance against promotion chasing Hatfield Peverel at Havering-atte-Bower.  Things did not look good early on as Peverel raced to 55-0 in the 10th over, but a three wicket burst from Karim Govani (3-44) brought Upminster into the game, and with the Narbherams, Sanjay and Dylan, running through the middle order the visitors quickly fell to 113-8.  Peverel's ninth wicket pair of Scott Griffiths and Mike Southwell batted sensibly to ensure their side used all of their overs, but with Ed Knight, Ollie Dignam and Scott Fisher producing some excellent work in the field, Peverel were restricted to 172-8.  Upminster skipper Craig Grote, who had been battling illness all week, fell early in the reply, but Paul Middlemiss and Paul Burley rebuilt steadily.  After being watchful against the opening attack, both batters looked more comfortable against the change bowlers, and their stand had reached 99 when Middlemiss fell for 60 and Burley went soon after for 33.  Joe Warren and Joe Hibell needed to rebuild and did so in fine fashion, working the ball around well against the spinners before going on the attack when the seamers returned to the action.  Warren ended 27 not out while Hibell ended on 45 from just 29 deliveries as Upminster won by seven wickets with six overs to spare.