By Steve Poulter
On coolish windy Thursday,
At the Theatre of Scenes,
The young Oakley saplings,
Faced one of Basingstoke’s teams.
They opened the bowling,
With plenty of pluck,
And in the opening salvo,
Finley got one for a duck,
Twas smart catch by Ben S,
At wicket keeper,
And one became two
From Finley’s next over.
So 17 for 2,
Bowling next was Ben B,
And fine catch from Declan
Had the ‘Stoke down by three.
Unlucky for Basingstoke,
Cos now in steams Deadly Dan,
Firing down missiles,
To take out the next man.
39 for 4,
No wait make that five!
Dan’s got two in two balls,
Can the next man survive?
Can he stop the hattrick?
Ohhhh just about,
But in Dan’s 2nd over,
That next man is out.
The score says 43 for 6,
Oakley are on fire,
Unlike poor old Basingstoke,
Who are right in the mire.
Some bowling changes,
And a few mis-fields later,
The score creeps along,
With no loss of batter.
A nice run out by Vivaan,
Finally stops the rot,
Basingstoke have lost 7,
Can Oakley get the lot?
Indeed they can,
And with 4 overs to spare,
A run out and a clean bowled,
For the final pair.
So 97 for the win,
Can the Oak’s bring it home?
Well with the way Will and Remi started,
They’ll do it on their own!
Will is hitting boundaries,
He makes it look easy this sport,
While Remi makes a lovely 18,
Before he gets run out short.
56 for 1,
A good looking score
Dan is next in,
And the runs flow some more.
Will retires at 31,
A classy batting display,
Viaan is in next,
Surely Oakley will carry the day.
Dan and Viaan bat on,
They now need just the 1 to win,
Viaan on strike,
But he’s lost his middle pin!
In comes Declan,
But he’s not to face,
It’s Dan who strikes the ball,
And secures the winning place!
97 from 15 overs,
I can say with some assurance
Oakley under 11s
That was a commanding performance!