Sunday 10th July 2011
Team: Harry M. (capt.), Jack H, Thomas L., Charlie T-N., Jack T-N., Ben M-J., Jamie C., James D., Jordan J., Matthew P.
Guesting for Leigh: Kian N-R.
Another sunny Sunday dawned and 12 players turned up for the u11B game. Shame we only needed 10. Luckily Leigh turned up with 9 so after Kian earned Paul and my gratitude by volunteering to play for Leigh it was 11 versus 10.
Leigh’s captain Scott won the toss and decided to bowl first. Jordan and Charlie opened the batting and gave us a good start managing to score solidly (Jordan hit 3 fours) without losing any wickets.
219 for 0 after 4 overs
Jack T-N and James D were next and batted carefully. They did lose one wicket to a very good full pitched ball. Despite this there was some good defensive play.
224 for 1 after 8 overs
Jack H and Matt were next out, again played solidly and defensively with little running between the wickets. Leigh bowled well but still gave away a few extras.
230 for 1 after 12 overs
Ben and Harry were the penultimate pair with Ben trying to hit most things including reversing his bat and playing lefthanded when the ball was leg side. Despite / Because of this unorthodox approach they scored a 4 each, preserved their wickets finishing on
247 for 1 after 16 overs
The final pairing was Jamie and Tom L. Again there was careful batting but 1 coming off the bat but more coming from extras. And no wickets down.
263 for 1 after 20 overs, net 258
Since we had an odd number Tom L batted a final two overs facing every delivery with Jordan as a runner. Tom faced a mixture of bowling and continued the team approach of soid play without risking his wicket.
At the break the Rayleigh team moved the fastest I’ve seen them as they disappeared for juice and biscuits. The team managers were not far behind them but settled for tea.
In the second half Leigh started quickly hitting Jordan for two fours in the first over. For the first three overs Leigh looked like they would cruise home with a mixture of good hitting and running quick singles. Then in over 4, single, dot, dot, wicket, dot wicket. One bowled, one run out and it started to look like the hare versus the tortoise.
218 for 2 after 4 overs
Our bowlers were getting into their stride now and the second pair found things difficult, whilst a couple of boundaries were conceded a wicket fell in each of the next 4 overs – 3 bowled and one caught. Which would come out on top – Leigh’s better ball striking or our bowling?
229 for 6 after 8 overs
Things continued much the same in the next 4 overs. Leigh scored 2 boundaries (one of which was by Kian who we’d leant to them) but we got a wicket – caught by Jamie as wicket-keeper.
243 for 7 from 12 overs
The fourth pairing was probably the turning point. Despite conceding 4 wides and a couple of boundaries we managed to pick up 3 wickets, 2 bowled and one caught, whilst conceding 20 runs.
263-10 from 16 overs
Leigh needed a good final pairing to win – 46 to win from 4 overs. 7 runs came from the 17th over, 12 from the next and 3 from the 19th. The 20th over loomed, Leigh needed 19 to win and in the final over wides and no-balls meant an extra delivery.
Dot 285-10
Single 286-10
Single 287-10
Wide … from which Leigh ran a single 289-10
Four 293-10
Wide 294-10
Two balls remaining and Leigh need 15 to win. Surely too many?
Single 295-10
Single 296-10
Final scores
Rayleigh 263 for 1 net 258
Leigh on Sea 296 for 10 net 246
Rayleigh win!
Differences between the sides?
Obviously Leigh lost a more wickets than we did and this was a combination of straight bowling, good catching, and thinking fielding with the run out being an example of calmness under pressure. All of which was added to by some good defensive batting when Leigh bowled well. Both sides were committed and made good stops in the field backing one another up well. Leigh were definitely more attacking in their strokes and aggressive in their running but today it didn’t come off. A good, tight display by the team in all aspects gave us a good victory.
Well done one and all.