Rawreth Lane
9th May
Eastwood Under 15s 56 all out
Rayleigh Under 15A 57-1
Rayleigh won by 9 wickets
Eastwood 56 all out
Rayleigh 57-1
Rayleigh Win by 9 wickets
The weekend’s sunshine gave way to a cold and windy Rawreth Lane – is that summer been and gone already? Steven won the toss and elected to field. There followed a strong all round bowling performance, with a mixed bag in the field. Wickets fell at regular intervals, with only one of the openers reaching double figures with a very creditable 17. Pick of the bowlers was Josh Jones with 3-3, but the wickets were shared between Matt, Conor, Alec, Steven and Tom. There were also 2 run outs from Steven and Matt – unfortunately there was also a dropped catch and a few long barriers went missing on the bumpy outfield. Eastwood totalled 56 all out off 18.5 overs.
In reply, it looked like openers Tom and Max were going to see the side home against some enthusiastic bowling and fielding. Tom led the way with 21 before being bowled with 8 runs needed. Max made a very accomplished 13 not out and it was left to Neil to finish the game with a flourish, hitting a 6 over mid-wicket. Rayleigh had reached their target with just over 9 overs to spare.
So a safe passage was secured into round 2 where it looks like its Basildon away. Eastwood are back at Rawreth Lane next week for the opening league match and more of the same will do nicely.
Chris Slough