Team: Joe Peppiatt, Jordan Jacobs, Callum Bishop, Alec Bateman (capt), Jamie Coleman (w/k), David Watts, Adam Bailey, Liam Harrold, Cameron MacDonald, David Wood.
The final League game of the season, re-arranged like so many others. The team was mainly old faces with a couple of new folks who had not played much earlier on. The captain was due to be James Buckley but he didn’t turn up. I was told later that this was because he had not received a call during the week so he had assumed he was not playing. That will teach me to tell someone a whole week in advance that they were in the team.
Anyway Alec was selected to captain the 10 man team and planned to bat first if he won the toss. He didn’t but the opposition put us in anyway. So far so good.
Joe and David Wood opened the batting and didn’t do a great deal. David was out in the second over, Joe in the 4th. SOSEMT’s secret seemed to be that they were bowling at the stumps.
We lost two more wickets quickly with Callum and David Watts both spending a short time in the middle. Adam came in and played the way he normally, does hitting the ball well without much defensive work. Alec backed him up and between them they put on 46 runs before Alec was out. Jordan came and went quickly before Adam retired on 27. However Jamie and Cameron didn’t last long either allowing Adam back in to take his total score to 33no and the team’s to 98. Our highest of the season.
David Wood and Joe opened the bowling conceding 14 runs from the first 4 overs together with a run out.
14 for 1 off 4.
Jordan and Callum were next up and kept things tight. Callum took two wickets, one bowled, one caught and bowled.
26 for 3 off 8.
Alec and Liam were next up and one of SOSEMT’s better bats was starting to settle in. Alec’s fist over was mixed with wides and a wicket, Liam had a bad first over but fought back well conceding just the single from his second.
55 for 4 from 12.
Cameron and Adam were the final bowling pair. Cameron’s second over was brilliant – dot, wicket, no ball, wicket, wide, wicket. Certainly kept the scorers’ busy. Both suffered a bit with some well struck boundaries by SOSEMT.
81 for 7 from 16.
18 runs needed from 4 overs meant SOSEMT were the favourites going into the final 4 overs. Joe bowled the 17th conceding only 2 runs. Callum then conceded 5 from the next.
11 to win from 2 overs. And SOSEMT’s No. 6 seemed to be getting his eye in.
Cameron bowled the penultimate over. The bowling was good but the batsman swing strongly through the line and hit the ball for 4 at mid off. Then mid on. Then mid off again.
SOSEMT win on the final ball of the 19th over.
A pretty good game overall with good performances from our team, and SOSEMT’s. The SOSEMT coach was a bit more ‘hands on’ than the other coaches this season. Most (all?) the other coaches marshalled the fielding when their team was bowling, this was the first one who also told the batsmen when not to run. Given that we got 2 run outs anyway I guess he feels it necessary.
Two final points.
Firstly the team have improved significantly over the past 6 games. Despite suffering a hammering from Rayliegh Fairview last week the general attitude and commitment of the team has improved every game.
Secondly my mother visited and saw her second Rayleigh game. On the way home she said that the team was much better. Since she hadn’t seen the u13Bs before I queried ‘much better than what?’ and it turns out she was comparing the lads to the 6th team game she had seen last weekend.
Plus 1 for the twelve year olds.