There was a heart-breaking loss for the Women's 2nd XI on Sunday as they lost by just three runs to High Roding at Coopers.  Upminster won the toss and chose to bowl first and they justified that decision as Lauren Plumb and captain Angela Green reduced Roding to 17-5.   Emily Salter and Siena Bishop led the visitors' recovery, but Plumb (4-13) sent back Bishop for 30 to put Upminster back on top.  Salter and Florence Bishop countered once more for Roding but Priya Somani came into the attack and claimed 3-12 to blow away the tail and bowl out the visitors for 132.  Sisters Dani Cox (28) and Jami Armes (22) started the Upminster reply in confident fashion, timing the ball well and picking up boundaries as they put on a half century inside 11 overs.  Both batters fell in quick succession as Upminster fell from 58-0 to 64-4 and Roding looked to be on top at that point.  Lauren Plumb and Daisy Middlemiss fought back for Upminster with a fifth wicket stand of 36, and at 100-4 it was the home side who were now sensing victory.  Four wickets were then lost in two overs to swing things back the way of the visitors, but Somani and Maisie Coles steadily inched their side towards the winning line with a stand of 20, before Coles fell in the penultimate over.  Eight were required from the last and five were needed from the final ball (four to tie).  Somani struck the ball cleanly towards the square leg boundary but a brilliant and brave stop from Molly Aungier stopped the ball and denied Upminster a share of the spoils.

It was of course Day 1 of Windmill Whack X with four sides in action.  Game 1 saw Hockey Club teammates Callum Berry and Liam Robertson star with the bat as the Kushoom Bugh Tigers saw off the BrewDog Braves by 14 runs.  Game 2 looked to be going the way of the Govani Maestros until some late heroics with the ball from Ralph Moore swung things the way of the Mullis & Peake Monarchs who squeezed home by 10 runs.  The next round of games are on Sunday 15th June.

Sunday's junior action saw Billy Sheridan strike a second consecutive century in the Brian Taylor Trophy for the U12s as they beat Orsett & Thurrock by 189 runs.  There was also a convincing win for the U14s against Bentley in the Sir Alastair Cook Trophy, while the U9s produced an excellent performance to beat Brentwood in the Central League.  There were losses for the U11s (to Brentwood in the Central League), the U10s (to Billericay in the Central Cup) and the U11 Girls (to Wanstead and Snaresbrook in the County Cup).