OECC Barnet U15A v Winchmore Hill U15A

This was a very satisfying performance, and not only because of a win against traditionally tough opponents. We had quite a few players making their debut at U15A, some stepping in at short notice. This notwithstanding, the eleven played as a coherent unit and fielded very well. In their 20 overs, Winchmore Hill's batsmen only found the boundary four times, three of which came in the last over.

Captain George won the toss and elected to bowl. This turned out to be the correct decision. Opening bowlers Ben and Ewan bowled superbly and both started with a maiden each. They bowled their alloted four overs each in one spell and both finished on identical statistics of 4 overs, 1 maiden, 10 runs, 1 wicket.

At the end of the eighth over Winchmore Hill were stranded on 26 runs and were feeling the pressure. New bowler Adam didn't let up and this led to the fall of their third wicket, a run out off some sharp fielding by Zain. However, the new Winchmore Hill pair of Alex and Sarujan slowly imposed themselves over the next few overs and by the end of the twelfth over they had accelerated to 56.

Time for another change of bowlers and spin bowlers Shrey and James were brought on. They immediately broke up this promising partnership, James removing Sarujan in the 14th and Shrey removing Alex in the 15th. They managed to keep things tight and at the end of the 19th over Winchmore Hill were on 92. However, Winchmore Hill's Kevin found the boundary three times in the last over and they finished on 107.

What was looking like a relatively easy run chase had suddenly become a bit more difficult. Opening batsmen George and James weren't going to repeat the mistakes of Winchmore Hill's openers. They both got off the mark quickly against a strong bowling attack and by the end of the fourth over the total was on 23, just ahead of the required run rate. Winchmore Hill got their first breakthrough in the fifth when George fell to an lbw. Winchmore Hill scented blood and stepped up the pressure with a change of bowlers at both ends. This paid dividends and in the eighth over Karamvir struck twice to remove Sami and Zain.

James and Shrey found themselves back together in a partnership that yielded 59 runs. By the time Shrey fell on the last ball of the 19th over they had steered the score to 99, still 9 short of the target. The last over was going to be a nailbiter. The first ball was a single to James. They helped themselves to a bye on the second ball. Hamish picked up two on the third. James picked up another single on the fourth. Four more needed and two balls remaining. Hamish produced a fine flourish on the penultimate ball, found the boundary, and OEs were home and dry with just one ball to spare.

James carried his bat and finished on a superb 65, which included 9 fours.

As already mentioned, OEs fielded very well. Their running between the wickets was also very good today. OEs bowlers did however give away too many bowling extras; 14 compared to only 2 by Winchmore Hill. This is something that needs to be worked on during training. But today they all deserve a well-earned pat on the back for a job well done.