Rayleigh 84-5
Orsett 86-5
Orsett win by 1 wicket
Team: Matt D (captain), Craig S, Conor S, Henry H, Max J, Joshua J
In the final game of the League it was the top two teams effectively playing a cup final – the winner takes all.
Matt lost the toss and was put in to bat. Then Orsett realised they only had 5 players so asked us to bowl. Then their 6th player turned up so we were back batting.
Orsett had bowled out all the teams they faced so we knew they had a reasonable attack. This they showed by slowing down the frantic rate Matt and Max normally score at. We were still scoring at just under a run a ball so a good score looked possible but things always change. Max retired on 26, replaced by his brother whilst Matt was having some difficulties getting scoring, tending to hit it straight down the ground (but also straight to the fielder). Our first wicket fell in the 6th over and then we lost wickets regularly. The score was looking less impressive all the time but towards the end Craig hit a 6, Max hit a couple and with 16 runs from the final over we set a score of 84. Low but defendable.
Joshua and Conor opened the bowling with their normal accuracy. There was a run out in the second over which made things interesting but after that Orsett kept plugging away, didn’t lose any wickets and were scoring at over a run a ball – more than enough to win. Henry and Max had a bowl and both picked up wickets whilst giving away some runs. When Orsett’s top scoring bat had to retire things got a bit interesting. The run rate dropped and, in the 10th over, 2 wickets fell. 14 needed from the final two overs with 2 wickets in hand. Matt bowled the penultimate over conceding 5 runs. Orsett needed 9 to win, we needed 2 wickets. Max drew the short straw (or stood up to be counted) and bowled the final over. 1, 3, 3, wicket, 3. Orsett win on the second last ball with one wicket in hand.
So close and, of course, there are loads of ‘if only’ moments. If only we had scored 5 more runs, if only one of those catches off the wall had been taken, if only we’d managed to field a little better. But actually it was a good game between two competitive sides and whilst we lost it was close. Orsett bowled and batted well. And next time we may beat them.
The stats?
Batting
|
Name |
Innings |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Average |
|
Max Jones |
5 |
2 |
120 |
35* |
40.00 |
|
Matt Dobson |
6 |
1 |
123 |
40* |
24.60 |
|
Joshua Jones |
3 |
67 |
31 |
22.33 |
|
|
Jordan Jacobs |
3 |
1 |
40 |
20 |
20.00 |
|
James Buckley |
3 |
1 |
26 |
15 |
13.00 |
|
Conor Slough |
3 |
22 |
19 |
7.33 |
|
|
Henry Hands |
2 |
1 |
6 |
6 |
6.00 |
|
Craig Smith |
2 |
11 |
8 |
5.50 |
|
|
Alex Dawkins |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Bowling
|
Name |
Overs |
Maidens |
Runs |
Wickets |
Average |
RPO |
|
Max Jones |
10.3 |
2 |
45 |
8 |
5.63 |
4.35 |
|
Joshua Jones |
10 |
0 |
49 |
3 |
16.33 |
4.90 |
|
Conor Slough |
14 |
0 |
71 |
3 |
23.67 |
5.07 |
|
Craig Smith |
3 |
0 |
17 |
1 |
17.00 |
5.67 |
|
Matt Dobson |
6.8 |
0 |
42 |
1 |
42.00 |
6.15 |
|
James Buckley |
6 |
0 |
38 |
1 |
38.00 |
6.33 |
|
Henry Hands |
4 |
0 |
31 |
1 |
31.00 |
7.75 |
|
Alex Dawkins |
4 |
0 |
34 |
2 |
17.00 |
8.50 |
|
Jordan Jacobs |
6 |
0 |
58 |
2 |
29.00 |
9.67 |