Winchmore Hill U15A v Old Elizabethans U15A

This was the first fixture for the U15As after a break of almost three weeks. It was also the first away fixture of the league competition for the U15As and it was clear when I arrived at the ground that most of the boys could have done with a couple of hours extra in bed on this bright sunny morning. Understandable.

Captain George was uncharacteristically unlucky with the toss and OEs were put in to bat. The first two overs were a sign of things to come. George was bowled in the first and Henry found himself trapped lbw in the second. It fell to Zain and Hamish to steady the ship. They fended off a fierce attack for the next three overs but found runs hard to come by.

Zain finally discovered his timing in the sixth, in which he pinched eight runs. Things began to look up, but Hamish fell to a c&b at the start of the seventh. It didn't take Sami long to make his presence felt and he found the boundary twice in that same over. The runs started to flow a little more easily, but Sami was too slow off the mark for a single and found himself run out at the beginning of the ninth.

Qasim came on and provided good support to Zain. Their partnership lasted until the fourteenth, when Zain fell to another c&b having scored a fine 26. Shrey threatened briefly, but had to retire hurt. Thereafter the wickets fell steadily and OEs were all out for 82 after 19.3 overs.

With Shrey unable to carry on, OEs were down to ten men in the field and the bowlers were aware that they had a difficult job containing the Winchmore Hill batsmen. But they go off to an excellent start. Zac served up a wicket maiden first over and he and Ben from the other end piled on the pressure. This paid off in the fourth when Hamish ran out the other opening batsman.

Unfortunately, both Zac and Ben lost a bit of steam and over the next three overs the Winchmore Hill batsmen took full advantage, moving the score from 13 at the end of the fourth to 41 at the end of the seventh. A change of bowlers at both ends put a stop to this and George and Adam took two wickets apiece over the next seven overs while slowing the run rate down a bit. However, it was too little too late and Winchmore Hill reached the target at the end of the sixteenth over for the loss of one more wicket, which was a run out off a superbly aimed throw by George.

Despite the loss, OEs managed to pick up two batting bonus points and three bowling bonus points. If my maths is correct then this puts them on equal points with Winchmore Hill at the top of Division 1. Third placed Holtwhites are less than 20 points behind (a win earns 20 points) so things are shaping up for quite an exciting finish.