Rayleigh (81-5) lost to Westcliff (103-5) by 22 runs
The poor run of weather lately meant that this was the 1st fixture of the season. The pitch had more than a tinge of green, and the bounce was anticipated to be low. On a cold and overcast morning at Rawreth Lane, Conor won the toss and inserted the opposition. Despite some good opening bowling from Josh and Matt, Westcliff got off to a good start, going at 5 runs an over. Conor and Max failed to secure a breakthrough as the openers continued to build with a mixture of good shots and some luck as well. A much bigger score was on the cards, but the retirement of the 2 openers in quick succession coupled with some excellent bowling from Henry (1-13) and Mihir in particular (3-13) meant that Westcliff were pegged back a bit. However, 103 on that pitch looked a very testing target.
Openers Max and Matt got Rayleigh off to a solid start, with Max in particular keeping the scoreboard ticking over against some good bowling. They managed to put on 50 before Matt was first to go in the 12th over for 18. However this had taken 3 more overs than Westcliff and with the required rate at over a run a ball, chances had to be taken by the incoming batsmen. Max retired on 25 not out and Craig, Josh and Mihir all fell cheaply in the pursuit of quick runs. Conor was run out off the last ball for a run a ball 8 but this was not enough. Westcliff were worthy victors by 22 runs.
Unfortunately, 64 dot balls and only 2 boundaries compared to Westcliff’s 56 dot balls and 12 boundaries tells its own story. Despite the loss there were a lot of positives. Max continued on from a fine indoor season with another not out retirement; Matt too has got his season up and running with 18. On the bowling front, Mihir and Henry proved that the squad has plenty of depth and variation and all the boys fielded well on a cold day. Next up is Hadleigh away in the 1st round of the cup and the boys will have hopefully blown all the cobwebs away and be better off for this run out.