Potters Bar U15 vs OECC U15A

This was the OEs' last league fixture and the fine bowling and fielding form they enjoyed all season sadly deserted them at the very moment that Potters Bar hit their stride. A week ago Potters Bar were stuck at the bottom of the table. Now, they've beaten the two teams at the top.

Potters Bar won the toss and decided to bat. Zac bowled a tidy first over and Ben made a breakthrough in the second, removing opener Ashish. However, any sense of anticipation OEs might have felt at that point was short-lived. The new pair of Teddy and Shaun let rip in the third over and by the time Shrey took Teddy's wicket in the tenth they had pushed the score to 96. It was a dispiriting time for the OEs, with only Ewan managing to keep a lid on the run rate.

OEs belatedly realised that they needed to pull their socks up if they were to stand any chance in this match. The second ten overs were completely different, yielding only 49 runs compared to102 in the first ten. This was chiefly down to some excellent bowling by George and Eddie, whose first ball removed Shaun. Zac returned to bowl the penultimate over, which turned out to be the most economical of the evening. Ben returned to bowl the last over and claimed two wickets with successive balls. The last bit of action of the innings was a run out off a superbly aimed throw by Eddie. The extra points earned by those wickets in the last over may yet prove to be crucial.

OEs faced a daunting target of 152 to win, and of course they didn't have the new-ball advantage. The innings was a mixed bag. Some boys misfired while others produced their best batting performance for the side. Ishan and Zain fell fairly early, but Qasim (21) and Henry (45) built a fine partnership of 68 that kept the target within sight. The turning point came when they both fell in the 14th over. Thereafter, the remaining batsmen found it increasingly difficult to establish themselves and the wickets fell steadily as they played increasingly risky shots in a vain attempt to keep the run rate high enough. At the end of the 20 overs OEs were 20 runs short.

On a more positive note, OEs picked up 7 out of the maximum 8 bonus points available to the losing side.