The under 13’s surged to the top of the table on Monday evening following a victory against our friends from Hook.
The Turnaround
The last game of the season capped off a remarkable run which completely turned the season around from a low-key and disappointing beginning to a barnstorming end. The 13’s have played 12, won 8, lost 3, and tied 1.
The 3 losses came at the start of the season which really shows the massive improvements made. We are two points clear and, whilst the nearest team have two games in hand, the cut off date for completion by the league is 13 August and it appears that no further fixtures are scheduled. Far be it from me to hope that the autumnal (and at times, hibernal) weather, continues.
A Fine Way to Finish
Hook won the toss and chose to bat first. Once again, Joby and Dan Saines opened the bowling and, whilst not picking up any wickets, bowled tidily; Joby 3 overs for 7 runs and Dan 3 overs for 13 runs. A good run out picked up the first wicket and, thereafter, som good tight bowling and excellent fielding restricted Hook to 105 all out, the last wicket coming on the final ball of the 20 overs. Wickets were again spread evenly, with Caden, Alex, Shravan, Lucas, and Ed notching.
In reply, we started off very brightly against some good bowling; Joby and Caden retiring after 4 overs and followed by Ted (with some powerful hitting) and Alex (with some brave nudges) who also both retired. George and Ed were the next pair in, George reaching 10 before being caught and Ed retiring on 5. Ben provided excellent support to young Dan and Shravan kept the scoreboard ticking over.
With 10 runs needed from 2 overs it was still somewhat in the balance with Hook continuing to bowl tightly. Lucas produced and lovely little innings of 10 not out and was then joined by the returning Joby. Any nerves about yet another tight finish were dispelled swiftly, Joby hitting 2-4-4 to finish the game off with an over and a bit to go.
What a brilliant way to finish the season.