The Women’s 1st XI lost ground in the Division 1 title race on Sunday as they fell to defeat at leaders Bishop’s Stortford. Upminster won the toss and decided to bat first but they soon found themselves in trouble at 35-4 before Paige Roche and captain Zoe Quested added 41 for the fifth wicket. Roche fell for 34 as Stortford once again took control before Quested and Beth Libby added 35 to take their side to 111-5. However, Libby’s dismissal triggered a further collapse and although Quested went on to make an excellent 51 Upminster lost their last five wickets for 10 runs as they were bowled out for 121 with Elena Dale and Hannah Stapleton claiming three wickets each for Stortford. Upminster were determined to make things as difficult for the home side as possible in the chase and a three wicket burst from Alexandra Goodey gave her side hope as Stortford fell to 64-4 before Hannah Stapleton and Grace Gladen added 42 together to put their side on the verge of victory. Both batters fell before the winning line was reached but Poppy O’Toole and Catherine Clune saw Stortford to a four wicket win. The 1st XI are back in action next week when Emma Black will make her debut for the club in the 100 Cup semi final at Kelvedon.

A brilliant innings of 51 from Catherine Johnson was not enough to stop the Women’s 2nd XI falling to a ten wicket loss against Frenford. With Upminster batting first at Coopers, Johnson came to the crease with her side 1-2 and they were soon 10-3 and in trouble before she combined with Lauren Plumb in a fourth wicket stand of 64. Johnson’s dismissal was the first in a flurry of wickets as the home side fell from 74-3 to 83-7, and at that stage it looked like they may struggle to bat out their overs, but captain Angela Green and Priya Somani batted well together to take Upminster into three figures. Both players then struck some late boundaries with Green finishing 28 not out and Somani 19 not out as Upminster closed on 125-7. Sana Chaudry was the pick of the Frenford attack with 3-22. Upminster would have been hoping to put the pressure on Frenford during the chase but unfortunately for them the visitors’ opening pair were in fine form. Uswa Syed (42*) and Fatima Imtiaz (54*) both hit a flurry of boundaries and took their side to a ten wicket win in less than 11 overs as Frenford moved to the top of the Division 2 table.

The Friendly XI picked up a win on a warm afternoon at Belhus. Upminster decided to bat first, and openers Lewis Munn and Patrick Gulvin got them off to an excellent start. They put on 99 for the first wicket before Gulvin fell for 39 and Munn went on to complete an excellent half century before falling for 60. Ryan Oakes (31) and Matt Mcarthur (30) made good contributions in the middle order before Harry Bradford smashed 69 not out from just 41 balls as Upminster climbed to 258-8. Belhus got themselves into a good position at 150-5 before Gulvin completed an excellent afternoon by taking 4-28 as the home side were bowled out for 200 as Upminster won by 58 runs.