Winchmore Hill U11 B v Southgate CC U11
On 8 July Southgate U11s found themselves back at Winchmore Hill, the site of their opening game loss, to face Winchmore Hill B.
Southgate won the toss and elected to field and were on it from the first over with some good bowling, sharp fielding and solid backing up. The quick outfield made taking singles relatively easy unless the ball was hit directly at a fielder and after three overs the opposition had put on 17 runs without loss. Testament to the tightness of the bowling was that the first boundary was not conceded until the 4th over.
An edge was drawn in the 5th over but flew past the wicket keeper and some good fielding by Thomas on the boundary saved two and was further evidence of a solid Southgate performance. The first breakthrough came in the 8th over when Isaac took a caught and bowled off his second ball, the catch not being easy after a spliced pull shot has sent the ball high into the air. Quick runs were then conceded and after 10 overs Winchmore Hill were 80 -1.
Dyhaan returned to bowl the 11th over and took two wickets for six runs and this was followed by an excellent maiden from Zariyan. Southgate applied some pressure with tight bowling and were drawing edges from the opposing batsmen. Dylan then joined the party taking two in an over and the next wicket to fall, a good catch by Dylan off of Aaryan, reduced Winchmore Hill to 90-6 off of 15 overs but the insane heat was beginning to affect the Southgate players. A wicket in the 16th over, the batsman clean bowled by Tom, and a caught and bowled for Milo (his first wicket for Southgate possibly) took Winchmore Hill to 113-8 before a collapsed tree branch (think huge branch!) temporarily stopped play.
One further wicket, a run out in the last over, saw Winchmore post 130-9 in their 20 overs.
Sensing an opportunity Southgate started cautiously scoring two off the first over but lost their first wicket at the start of the second and another in the reducing them to 14-2. A period of consolidation with a couple of boundaries took the score to 26-2 off of six overs but tight bowling and fielding was pushing the required run rate up. Dylan was then bowled looking to push on and after 10 overs Southgate had posted 51-3, not out of it but with some runs to be made up.
Niam and Dhyaan kept the scoreboard ticking over before a direct hit saw off Dhyaan (72-4) and Niam was bowled again trying to push on, leaving Southgate 76-5 after 14 overs. Requiring 55 off of six overs seemed a big ask and when Thomas was runout (another direct hit) and Milo bowled the very next ball, the chances of winning seemed gone. Max, making his debut, soon followed (88-8) but a belligerent 25 off of 21 balls, including three fours, from Henry Cox saw Southgate rattle the home side in the closing overs falling just short at 112-9.
A quicker start and some more aggressive running in the middle overs may have just seen them over the line but a good run chase and a hugely improved performance in tough, hot conditions.
Report: David Cox