Our U15 team travelled to Colwall for our last league game of the season, knowing that a victory would all but seal the league title. Holiday season again caused us a challenge – with 5 players from our usual starting X1 missing we needed to draw upon our squad depth and in particular our strong U13 squad, calling on Miles, Avi, Gauranga and Henry to step up an age group.

Ethan won the toss and decided to bat first. He opened up alongside Tommy and they went off like a rocket, both hitting multiple boundaries as we shot to 26-0 inside 3 overs. Tommy was then run out attempting a tight single, bringing Will Beaumont to the crease. Will picked up where Tommy left off, also hitting multiple boundaries and looking particularly strong through the leg side. They reached 57-1 part-way through the 6th over, at which point Ethan was caught in the covers for an excellent 31 off just 20 balls. Out came Ewan, fresh from top-scoring in the successful run chase against Bromyard last week, and he continued with his good batting form. Both Will and Ewan showed aggressive intent and the runs continued to flow; we moved to 105-2 off 14 overs and then 139-2 off 18 overs. An impressive partnership of 94 finally came to an end as Ewan was run out for a brilliant 31 in the final over; Will then hit the final two balls to the fence as he finished as top scorer with 48 not out. Great batting effort which took us to 160-3 off 20 overs, our highest total of the season and setting Colwall a daunting 161 to win.

They put 241-0 on us in the corresponding fixture last year, so we didn’t want to take things for granted, particularly when they started well and reached 35-0 in the 5th over. A direct hit from Ethan then ran out one of their openers, after which Ewan bowled out their #3 to leave them 47-2 off 6 overs. Tight overs from Avi and Miles, followed by two wickets from Tommy during a fiery spell, left them at 73-4 off 12 overs and we were well on top. Colwall continued to fight and scored 25 runs off the next 2 overs to keep them just about in the game, needing 62 off the last 6 overs. But a fine spell from Gauranga put the game to bed, bowling some crafty spin on a turning pitch which the Colwall lower order couldn’t handle. He finished with excellent figures of 3-5 off 3 overs. Two more run outs followed, the first by an Avi / Henry combination and the second another direct hit, this time from Dom, as we looked sharp in the field. Ethan then had to bowl spin rather than pace due to the poor light, and he managed to pick up the final wicket in the 20th over to leave them 127 all out and giving us a victory by 33 runs.

This was satisfying on so many levels. Firstly – an excellent all-round performance from the boys, who showed attacking and effective batting to rack up an impressive score, then bowled well and fielded excellently throughout to ensure a comfortable win. Secondly, this was with a number of players missing and relying on four U13 players to bolster the ranks – they all stepped up and gave excellent performances, showing the team next year is in good hands. Thirdly, this was an opponent that beat us by 183 runs just over 12 months ago! They were nowhere near as strong tonight, but what a turnaround in such a short period of time. And finally – the result leaves us sitting pretty at the top of the league, 15 points clear of 2nd place and all but guaranteed to be champions. What a season.

100 cup still to go – the quarter finals at home against Burghill tonight (Thursday 22nd), followed by the semis & finals on Monday 26th at Brockhampton if we win.

Thanks again to Richard Fisher for scoring.
Lee