Braintree CC’s Sunday XI finished off their season with an entreating 25 run win over Chappel and Wakes Colne in a match that was played in tremendous spirit, encapsulating everything Sunday matches are about. The star of the day was Lyra Macleod, who took a quite remarkable 7-53.
Braintree were batting first and Brothers Theo and Will Sherry were opening together and after the former hit a lively late cut, he was bowled by a Yorker. Some tight bowling kept the run late low, and eventually the younger Sherry chipped one up to midwicket. Charlie Garner stuck a few boundaries early on to add a bit of impetus to the innings but he attempted one big shot too many and toed one to midwicket. This left the score at 39-3 at which point Harvey Castle-Hacker came to the crease. Chaplin continued to grind at one end while Castle-Hacker got into his work, striking a couple of nice shots before being bowled. This brought skipper Leigh Garner to the crease, and together with Chaplin, he started to increase the run rate, with the score moving past 100 as Chaplin neared his first senior 50, which he eventually reached, a good battling innings from the youngster. Garner at the other end had also worked his way past 40, a mixture of good running and boundary hitting helping to anchor the innings alongside Chaplin. The score had reached 153 when Chaplin retired not out, with Andrew Sherry ending with a flourish, sending the ball to all parts to finish on 32* from 11 balls and Garner on 46*, the Dolphins finishing on a respectable 188 from their 40 overs.

In an unfamiliar role this season, It was Joe Osborne who bowled the opening over and set the tone well for Sunday debutant Geo Barnard to get into her work, finding rhythm towards the end of her 8 over opening spell. It was Osborne who eventually broke the steady opening partnership, with probably one his worst balls of the day being chipped up by Attwood for Andrew Sherry to take a good running catch in what ended up a cover position when he started from slip. A partnership of 20 occurred before Macleod picked up two wickets in 2 balls, first having Ollie M caught at slip by Andrew Sherry before next ball having Fergus Macdonald caught at cover by Castle-Hacker. Maxwell J added some firepower to the innings, striking the ball to all parts in his rapid 49 from only 23 balls. The score had passed 100 when Castle-Hacker snaffled a simple caught and bowled to remove Steve T, and with the score still on 112, Macleod got the wicket of Macdonald via Decent Catch from Charlie Garner in the deep. The momentum was with Braintree now and Macleod continued to pick up wickets in between the odd boundary from the visitors, sneaking through the defences of both Ryan J and Alfie W to leave the score at 150-7 with the game in the balance. Already with a 5-fer in the bag, Macleod continued to plug away, having Saul L stumped by Mark Osborne before Elliot L was caught at midwicket by Leigh Garner. This meant Macleod finished with quite phenomenal figures of 7-53, which is a wonderful achievement in her first year of senior cricket. Her Brother Corbyn recently picked up an 8fer in an u13’s match, not a bad year for the Macleod Family. The innings was wrapped up on 163 as Conrad W edged behind to Osborne off the bowling of Chaplin.
A great day to finish the season with debuts and Milestones aplenty, and a win to top off a fantastic season for the Sunday team, which continues to give players much needed game time and experience.