Braintree 2’s we’re comprehensively beaten by a very impressive Bardwell side that included a first class cricketer, Paballo Mogoera. He scored 191 helping significantly to contribute to a mammoth total of 400 for his team.
Skipper Andy Sherry lost the toss and Braintree were put into field. An early wicket came courtesy of Sherry, clean bowling Wakeman for 16. That, however, was the last bit of joy Braintree had as Mogoera, along with Allum, launched a brutal assault on the dolphins bowlers, smacking them to all parts of the ground. After originally taking his time, Mogoera began to score seemingly at will, visibly frustrated with himself on every ball that he didn’t hit to the boundary. At the other end, Allum played a very astute knock of 118, the perfect foil to the hard hitting overseas who is playing way below his standard. Looking to slog, Allum was then bowled by young bowler Callum Lazarus, a nice moment in a day to forget for the team. When the innings finally came to an end, Bardwell had accumulated 400 for the loss of just 3 wickets.

When Braintree came out to bat, they knew they had no realistic chance of chasing the huge total so instead going for the maximum 5 bonus points was the better option. However, their quest got off to the worst possible start as Ian Johnston was bowled by Larder for 5. Soon after, Arindam Ganguly was pinned lbw for a duck, again by Larder. Charlie Garner and Jamie Foyster started to build a partnership but when he reached 19 and looking quite composed, Garner played a lose drive and was bowled by Mogoera. Foyster then chipped one up in the air and from there it was a procession, Braintree folding to 142 all out. The only bit of resistance was from Andrew Sherry who, in his quick fire 29, launched Mogoera for a huge six over deep mid wicket, something small to take away on a personal note for the skipper.
A tough afternoon but one to move on quickly from as Bardwell are not the normal standard of opposition in division 6. Braintree will look to get back to wining at ways at home to Earl Stonham on Saturday