Scorecard

Sulhamstead CC - U13 v East Woodhay Cricket Club Under 13's on Thu 23 May 2019 at 18:00
East Woodhay Cricket Club Won by 1 run

Match report U13's through to the next round in remarkable comeback win

The U13's progressed through to the last 8 of the Berkshire Cup with a remarkable come back in an evening of high drama at Sulhamstead. Starting slightly late to accommodate the delayed arrival of some Sulhamstead players for the first 15 mins it was pretty much business as usual. Sebastian won the toss, elected to bat and after 2 overs we were 12 -0 with openers James Hall and Rory Downie both finding the boundary. And then the chaos set in. A combination of a lively pink ball that swung and seamed, and some confused thinking in terms of shot selection saw us lose both openers in quick succession. Fin Plumpton quickly followed leaving us 16-3. No need to panic we have a lot of batting and Seb and Thomas Hughes sought to stem the flow of wickets - or at least that was the plan. No such luck though. Thomas was well taken by the wicket keeper and then Oscar was bowled leaving us 18-5 and skipper Sebastian with a look of panic on his face. Barney Talbot Williams came to join him - surely this combination would get us back on track? Although the score did start to progress as Sebastian found his range with a few boundaries we were never secure, underlined by Barney being dropped by the wicket keeper. Soon after there was no second reprieve as he mistimed a drive and was well caught for 7. Score 53-6. At last we started to think a bit more about our approach. Charlie Bays came in and with a safety first approach slowed down the momentum of Sulhamstead, taking the odd single here and there, getting Sebastian back on strike who was able to find the boundary when needed. He retired on 30 with a well struck 6 over mid wicket. That bought Tom Clipston to the crease who continued in the same vein as Charlie - slow and steady accumulation, it's a cardinal sin not to bat out your full overs in 20 over cricket and there was a real danger of this happening to us.

As the overs ticked by the batters picked up the aggression a bit Charlie eventually paying the price and getting bowled 4 overs from the end - his score of 7 may have been relatively modest but his contribution to changing the momentum of our innings invaluable. Joseph Sheridan played sensibility until he was trapped LBW for 7 bringing in number 11 Alex Braidwood (but still having Sebastian who had retired in reserve). Alex was run out in the 19th over unselfishly looking to up our rate knowing Seb could still come back in, the victim of an brilliant pick up and direct hit by the Sulhamstead skipper. With the score on 111 and Tom opening his shoulders (hitting a lovely 6 over mid wicket) and still 10 balls left I was hoping we could get somewhere in the region of 125 to give us a chance. Again it was not to be, Sebastian seemed over excited to be coming back into bat and after chipping his first ball for 2 he perished next ball caught in the covers leaving Tom on 22 not out and us all out for 113 with 8 balls still remaining.

With small boundaries and a fast outfield we were up against it. We did have a chance but it was small and we would have to fight like tigers to win. That chance seemed to diminish inside 5 overs as Sulhamstead punished our wayward bowling and sloppy fielding. It should be noted that the Sulhamstead opener and captain played very well indeed - he is a quality player and batted superbly. After the opening 6 overs salvo from Messers Hughes and Sheridan Sulhamstead had advanced to 50 without loss and it was game over. Barney gave us brief hope by getting a wicket in the 7th over a catch well taken by Sebastian. The skipper carried on remorselessly and retired for 30 inside the 8th over - a fine knock indeed. With his retirement came the first twist in the game. Sebastian taking 3 wickets in 4 balls, the last a brilliant caught and bowled effort jumping and diving to his right to get fingers on a ball going over him and catching the rebound one handed on the floor. That brief hope was extinguished as the Sulhamstead batters showed much better judgement than their Woodhay counterparts and with wides and no balls a constant source of runs the score continued to climb. James Hall briefly got in the the act with an excellent caught and bowled effort diving one handed to his right to cling onto a well struck drive to finally dislodge the number 4 batsman but the score progressed to 110 - 4 after 16 overs and was effectively over.

Remember the names of Charlie Bays and Tom Clipston from the rearguard batting effort? With a seemingly hopeless task and in the gathering gloom the skipper threw them the ball . Charlie responded with a wicket and conceded only two runs (another pesky wide and a bye). 2 runs needed of 3 overs. Then Tom Clipston bowled a maiden. Two runs needed runs off 2 overs. At this point Sulhamstead started to panic and for the first time in the game our boys started to show their class. Panic running set in and cool heads by the fielders and wicket keeper Alex Braidwood took the chances as they were offered. Charlie again kept his head and with only a leg bye conceded Sulhamstead were 112-7 going into the final over. Nerves of steel needed here as with wickets in hand and their captain still able to come back to back Sulhamstead were looking to run anything if they could get a bat on it. After 3 dot balls they scrambled the ball out to short mid wicket, Sebastian was on to it straight away and had the batters in 2 minds. With both players heading towards the same end he coolly took his time throwing in a fast accurate throw on the bounce straight over the stumps. Alex likewise kept his nerve and removed the bails. 112-8 with 2 balls to go. 5th ball - swing and a miss well taken by Alex, dot ball. And so to the last ball, the field was in very tight as everyone knew the batters were going to run. A single to tie would have been enough as they had lost less wickets than us. Could Tom keep his nerve. HE DID!! The batsman could only get his pad on the ball and it dribbled out into the infield. In all the excitement (I was at square leg) I didn't see who picked it up. The batters ran but couldn't get there in time as once again Alex didn't panic and whipped the bails off, I raised the finger leaving the boys ecstatic and in disbelief that they had pulled off the most unlikeliest of victories. Man of the match Tom for his incredible efforts with both bat and ball

That moves us into the last 8 where we will face with West Illsely or Hurst.

East Woodhay Cricket Club Under 13's Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
113		        
James Hall Caught  4
Rory Downie Bowled  7
Finlay Plumpton Bowled  0
Sebastian Chapman Caught  32
Thomas Hughes Caught  0
Oscar Fox Bowled  0
Barnaby Talbot-Williams Caught  7
Charlie Bays Bowled  5
Tom Clipston Not Out  22
Joseph Sheridan Lbw  7
Alexander Braidwood Run out  2

Sulhamstead CC - U13 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Sulhamstead CC - U13 Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
112 (20.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

East Woodhay Cricket Club Under 13's Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Thomas Hughes3.003000.0010.00
Barnaby Talbot-Williams3.0017117.005.67
Joseph Sheridan3.001400.004.67
Sebastian Chapman3.001936.336.33
James Hall2.00919.004.50
Oscar Fox2.001000.005.00
Charlie Bays2.00111.000.50
Tom Clipston2.00000.000.00