Southgate U11 v Winchmore Hill A U11
A new and fresh looking U11 Southgate side started their first game of the season with a few debutants, not only for Southgate, but to competitive hard ball cricket. To add to this the starting 11 included two players under the age of 9.
A bright but fresh and windy afternoon set the scene for this away fixture and Dylan started his captaincy with a toss win and elected to field.
In tricky crosswind conditions the opening bowlers for Southgate were unfortunate to encounter a left-handed opening bat who showed no sign of winter rustiness and set about some pretty good bowling with gusto, scoring 48 off 17 balls, punishing anything not straight or slightly short. Southgate were also denied a wicket, a no ball being given, which would have broken the opening partnership.
This rapid start was, however, then countered by Southgate who bowled steadily, pegging back the run rate, but failing to find a breakthrough even though the ball passed the edge on a number of occasions. Having conceded 102 off ten overs, Winchmore Hill only scored 71 from the next ten with one catch being put down. Bowling performances of note included Ishaan and Aryan, both bowling two overs for nine runs, Henry Cal, one over for six runs, and Arthur Ellis, on debut, one over for six runs.
This solid bowling was backed up with a strong fielding display with the boys stopping boundaries and chasing everything down.
Despite this, and a sharp run out, Winchmore Hill A set a formidable target of 173.
Realising the difficulty of the run chase the boys were tasked with using the game to gain batting experience and retain their wickets as a primary objective.
A strong bowling attack got off to an ideal start, taking a wicket with a fast, straight delivery, first ball, however then Southgate showed good resilience and determination with nearly all of the boys seeing out their first 12 balls and retiring. Whilst never getting close to the required run rate, the focus showed by the boys hinted at better displays to come with five of the boys retaining their wickets and not getting out.
A total of 61 – 5 was made in reply to the 173 – 1 set by Winchmore Hill A. Despite the size of defeat the boys remained positive throughout, encouraged each other and fielded well and, importantly, responded well to the challenge of retaining their wickets.