Upminster reached Finals Day of the Dukes Essex T20 Cup for the first time since 2017 on a baking hot Bank Holiday Monday at Upminster Park. With temperatures well into the 30s throughout the day, it was the hosts who kept their cool to win both of their contests and move through to the showpiece event on 19th July.

The morning semi final saw Aaron Beard’s side take on Hadleigh and Thundersley and with the skipper having won the toss and decided to bowl first he himself took full advantage, producing a blistering opening spell to help reduce Hadleigh to 24-5. At that stage, an early finish to the first game of the day looked on the cards, but Oliver Smith and Ethan Rogers hit back for Hadleigh with an excellent sixth wicket stand. Smith began slowly before putting accelerating later in his innings while Rogers worked the ball around nicely but also struck two maximums to get the scoreboard moving. Pulkit Gupta made the breakthrough when he dismissed Smith for 44 but Rogers remained until the end of the innings and finished on 38 not out as Hadleigh posted 114-6. While that total was more than looked likely an hour before, it always looked a little under par, and so it proved as Gupta and Kiran Kullar began the chase. The opening pair put on 36 in just four overs before Abin Mathew dismissed Kullar for 24 but that brought the in-form JJ Smuts to the crease. Smuts and Gupta added 45 for the second wicket to make the outcome a formality, and although Gupta fell for 28, Smuts (41*) and Gus Philpot (12*) took Upminster to an eight wicket win with nearly seven overs to spare.

The second semi final saw Premier Division Chelmsford take on Division 1 Gidea Park & Romford, and having won the toss and decided to bat Chelmsford’s batters made full use of a belting track. Skipper Ben Clifford made a marvellous 101 not out from just 56 balls and with Jack Sterland, Aarav Salil and Rishabh Upadhyay also in the runs the Premier Division outfit piled up 225-2 from their 20 overs. Park’s Sami Ullah wasn’t intimidated by the target and began the chase with a flurry of boundaries to keep his side in the chase, but with wickets falling regularly at the other end Chelmsford always held the upper hand. Clifford finally dismissed Ullah for 91 (from 48 balls) and with his exit went Park’s hopes as they were bowled out for 154 to lose by 71 runs.

That set up a final between the hosts and Chelmsford and the visitors decided to field first having won the toss. They may have regretted that decision 30 minutes later with Smuts and Kullar thrashing the ball to all parts as Upminster flew out of the blocks towards a big score. Upminster were 119-3 at the halfway stage, but any worries that the loss of Smuts and Kullar would stall their progress were then wiped away by Philpot, who smashed 59 from 33 balls and with Beard also striking some late boundaries Upminster posted 221-5. The Chelmsford top order were then blown away at the start of their reply and at the midway point of the chase they found themselves 96-6 and seemingly out of the game. However, the Premier Division outfit possess great strength in depth, and they continued to believe they could reach their target. 40 runs were needed from the final two overs but only seven were taken from the 19th and Chelmsford ended on 198-9 as Upminster won by 23 runs.

It was a brilliant day for everyone concerned with the club and thanks are due to a number of people. Firstly, to umpires Neil Osborne, Keith Oram and Dave Skinner and to the scorers of all clubs without whom the day wouldn’t have run so smoothly. Secondly, to Andrew Berry and his team of organisers who helped to ensure the day went to plan and to the catering and bar teams for the excellent job they did (especially as it was the fourth busy day in a row at the Pavilion). And also, thanks to our Grounds Executive Mark Severn for producing a brilliant playing surface that ensured exciting cricket was played throughout the day.

Elsewhere across the County there was some excellent cricket played as sides fought for a place at Finals Day. At Garon Park it was Premier Division giants Hornchurch and Brentwood who made it to the group final where Brentwood squeezed home by 16 runs. There were lots of runs all day at Orsett but a shock in the group final as Loughton overcame Wanstead & Snaresbrook by 21 runs, while at Chingford, Billericay’s Grant Roelofsen made centuries in the semi final and final as Billericay took the last place at Finals Day.

It all means that on 19th July Upminster will take on Loughton while Brentwood will face hosts Billericay with the two winners facing off in the Grand Final later in the afternoon.