Braintree 2’s finally got back to winning ways with a very important win away at Sudbury which gives them a bit of breathing space above their 2 relegation rivals, te gap now 44 points to bottom placed Sudbury.



Braintree lost the toss and were out in the field looking for an early breakthrough and with the score on 14 it came courtesy of a good catch over his shoulder by Jamie Foyster off the bowling of Sherry. Fellow opener Toby butcher then threw caution to the wind as he accelerated the score by slashing at anything slightly wide. With the boundary so short on one side, anything past or over the fielder was a guaranteed boundary. At the other end, Braintree kept it tight and were rewarded with the wicket of Cook as he was caught behind again off the bowling of Sherry. Daniel king then got a well deserved wicket as he castled butcher, ripping the stump out of the ground. Soon after, with one of his only bad balls of the day, he had white caught at point again by Foyster. Unfortunately, midway through ninth over, King tweaked a shoulder muscle, we hope for a speedy recovery for the opening bowler. Shaun Gould was then introduced to the attack and after a small partnership, Gould had his man, sliding one across the left hander to have him caught behind by Hollingsworth. Two balls later he had Rose caught and bowled, a great grab diving forward and the very next ball he bowled Smith and was on a hat trick. It was not to be but still an incredible over from the club legend who is ageing like a fine wine. With the visitors reeling at 72-7, father and daughter duo Willie and Lucy Amos frustrated Braintree with a 55 run partnership, both the batters displaying a very good defensive technique. In the end, After a flurry of play and misses, Gould spun one through the gate of Lucy Amos for his fourth wicket. Soon after, he picked up his fifth wicket as Willie Amos was bowled attempting to sweep. Gould ended with figures of 11-2-30-5, a match winning performance from the off spinner. After a few lusty blows from Tantirige, including a huge six over the pavilion, Calley Foyster held her nerve well and bowled him to wrap up the innings on 152.



Even though it was a relatively small target, Braintree new it would it be easy on a tough batting wicket. Their reply started badly as Lucy Amos got through the defences of Matt Kent for her first wicket of 4 on the day. After a few nice shots down the ground, she also bowled Hollingsworth with another full delivery to leave the dolphins at 35-2. She continued her fine spell as she pinned Charlie Garner lbw with a Yorker and then destroyed the timber of Ian Johnston to leave Braintree in a spot of bother of 51-4. That brought Skipper Sherry to the Crease and along with opener Foyster, a partnership was built, Sherry being the aggressor and Foyster digging in, rotating the strike while finding the occasional boundary. Sherry’s innings included 3 sixes that sailed over the trees on the short boundary. After some more good hitting and the odd bit of good fortune, the skipper eventually finished on 60* to continue his good batting form. Foyster continued to grind it out and he to was there at the end on 45*, a perfect supporting act for Sherry and exactly the type of innings required on a tough batting deck. The target was eclipsed pretty quickly in the end, Braintree taking just 26.4 overs to reach 153-4, a win by six wickets.



A great win with maximum bonus points and overall a very enjoyable day out in The Suffolk countryside for the Braintree boys. They will hope to get another win as they host high-flying Chappel and Wakes Colne Next Saturday