Rayleigh 304–1 (Net 299)
Hadleigh 232–5 (Net 207)
Rayleigh won by 92 runs
Team: Conor S (Capt), Matt D, Max J, Josh J, Alex B, James B, Owen B, & Mihir P
Hadleigh could only muster 8 players so it was a slightly truncated affair on a cool Sunday morning at Rawreth. Hadleigh won the toss and elected to bat.
Max and Matt opened the bowling in a really great opening spell that yielded just 1 run of the bat between them, and only 5 in total. Max picked up a wicket in his first over as well. Any thoughts that Hadleigh had about significantly increasing the scoring rate in the middle overs were quickly dispelled as both Owen and Henry only conceded 4 runs each in their 4 overs, with Owen picking up a maiden. In a slight change to the usual order, normal death bowlers Josh and Conor came on next, and both came off with the identical figures of 2 overs, 1 maiden, 1 for 1. It was left to Mihir and Alex to finish proceedings off. Mihir took a wicket thanks to a catch by Henry, and Alex took another clean bowled. Only 8 runs came off the last 4 overs which was a splendid effort. Though Hadleigh’s batting had been somewhat circumspect throughout, it was still a great effort to restrict them to 232-5 (net 207).
And so to the batting. Max and Conor put on 25 undefeated for the first 4 overs, scoring 8* and 11* respectively. Owen and Henry came in next, each scoring 6* with a boundary as they added another 18 runs undefeated. This effectively killed off the match but, with the pressure off, Mihir and Josh stayed focused as they rattled up a partnership of 28. Both players scored 10 but unfortunately, Mihir got out to his last ball, which gave Hadleigh what was to be their only wicket of the match. Matt and Alex came in and scored 33 off the final 4 overs, again undefeated and this included a superlative six from Matt (first one of the season) on his way to 26*. Rayleigh closed on a massive 304-1 (net 299) considering this was only 8 a side, and nearly went through the innings without losing a wicket. This meant a convincing victory by 92 runs.
Thanks to Paul for umpiring, Matt for scoring and Lisa for the teas.