Hampton Hill CC vs Ealing CC

(Match Report by David Smith)

20 overs per side
10 players per side
Each pair bats for 4 overs
Each bowler bowls 2 overs each
'No balls' and 'Wides' give away 2 runs respectively and are not rebowled, except in the last over of each innings
Lose 5 runs for each wicket

The day didn’t get off to the best start with both Lucas and Tayyab being unable to play, the opposition lead coach telling us they weren’t expecting to start until 1100 and the weather not looking particularly brilliant. It was agreed that Hampton who had extra player would lend us 2 of theirs. Hampton won the toss and chose to bat which was greeted with joy by our lads whom I had convinced should field first. In the end we did manage to get a start slightly before 1100 and although the weather still wasn’t brilliant we started with a bang with Arun taking a wicket with a brilliant 1st ball. Both he and Jack shared a very good pair of overs with Jack taking an excellent wicket with a run out as well. Jack’s figures would probably have been even better but for a couple of wides which started off as great balls but just got taken away with the wind. The poor weather continued and we had to take rain break. The middle overs were not so good with a fair few wides being bowled and to be honest some poor fielding with the boys letting themselves down quite badly at times not getting down properly or using long barriers. This I’m sure this was in part due to the conditions but nonetheless resulting in a growing scoreline for Hampton Hill. Some shining lights in this period were a maiden over by Charlie and a good catch by Jack. Indie (wicket caught by Charlie at wickie) and Easa (maiden) shared a good final pairing restricting the chase to 273 which I felt was achievable provided we didn’t lose too many wickets.

The second innings therefore didn’t start off for the best in this respect with 2 wickets lost in the 1st over as Jack hit his own stumps off a 1st ball wide that left him losing his balance and then being caught off a shot played into the air. To his credit he recovered well and got a 4 in the next over and in the end the 1st pair got us off to a good start above the required run rate with some good running between the wickets. Zach and Silas then batted well against some bowling which too be honest included so many poor balls being bowled they did incredibly well to hit any of them. Ruben and Charlie continued to add to the runs so the game was essentially won by the time we got to the 4th pairing when the previous bad bowling started to look quite good in comparison. The final pair basically needed only to protect their wickets for us to win but this did not deter them from putting on a great batting display together with some good running between the wickets against some somewhat improved bowling and taking the game beyond doubt. Top scorers were Arun and Easa with 9 – the latter being particular impressive from a 7 year old. All in all a good day out with a good all round performance with an interesting stat being all bar 2 of our boys hitting a 4!