U10 MATCH REPORTS 2022

In Football there are those local derby games; Brighton v Crystal Palace; in Cricket we have England v Australia; on Saturday 7th at 9.30am we had Storrington vs West Chiltington and Thakeham.  This was our derby game.  Last season, we won a game and lost a game vs West Chilt (to save my typing I am cutting the team name down – sorry Thakeham). So, we knew it was going to be a hard game.
Captain Massimo went out to the wicket for the coin toss; the away captain called heads and lost.  Massimo was straight into T20 style cricket – ‘We field’.   Opening our bowling was Ben, a fantastic first ball saw a cover drive hit straight to Massimo – BOOM – catch taken and a wicket down!  West Chilt steadied the ship with a four on the next bowl and with a couple of extras: 11 runs off the first over! What a start.   A very strong batting pair then took control, with 9 more runs against Harrison’s over.  The pair continued with a strong 10 runs against Vlad, followed up with 8 more against Thomas.   However, Thomas did take a wicket in his over – great bowling Thomas! 38 runs off the first 4 overs was a strong start – however, our 2 wickets (-5 for a wicket) pegged them back to 228.  Tom bowled well for the next over with no runs conceded but a couple of extras.  Up next was Jake; a single run and 2 extras against but a run out from Massimo kept the score to 235. Similar tight bowling from Joel, 1 run, a couple of extras.  Bastiaan followed in a similar format, no runs, but 3 extras.  Note – extras count as 2 runs – this is clearly an area for our team to work on!  *Homework for all – practice bowling in a straight line!  After 8 overs 241 was the score.  Massimo followed in the bowling attack – a wicket maiden over. Ben up next and again another wicket maiden.  Now we had a match…. Harrision limited the runs to 1, although conceded 4 extras.  Vlad followed up with another maiden.  12 overs down and 240 the total.  Thomas bowled steady with no runs but a couple of extras. Tom was up next; 5 runs against an extra.  A highlight for our bowling followed – Jake taking 2 wickets with 2 bowls… there were calls for a hat trick ball in the field – sadly not. However, 2 extras and 2 wickets off Jake’s over was excellent bowling.  Joel followed Jake’s lead with another wicket maiden – outstanding bowl Joel – well done. With 240 off 16 overs, West Chilt sent out their star pair.  The tension grew.  The cloud cover came over.  Bastiaan bowled well but positive batting saw a couple of boundaries and a couple of singles. Massimo was up next; a couple of runs and a couple of wides – the score ticked on.  Ben returned to the bowling attack – with 6 runs and a couple of wides, the score was pilling on, but Ben did take a wicket.  Some outstanding batting by their captain then followed in the last over against Massimo, with 12 runs scored.  The last ball of the over – Captain vs Captain – middle stump down.  A wicket with the final ball!  A final score of 274 set.  A special mention should also go to Ben G – playing in our first match as wicket keeper.
Time for a cup of tea and out to bat.  Ben and Harrison facing some strong bowling from the opening attack. Unfortunately, we lost 3 wickets (including a run out) and with only 3 extras off the first 4 overs, resulted in an opening score of 207! Ouch! Vlad and Ben G were next out.  Again, some tight bowling (only 4 extras) during these 4 overs. But a few more runs, an excellent boundary from Ben and some good running between the pair, nudged our score up to 229.  A run out did cost us another -5 though.  Tom and Thomas faced some pacey bowling but knocked 13 runs between them, including an amazing shot from Thomas landing a metre short of a 6 (he did get the boundary though), and with a few more extras we had score 244.  After 12 overs West Chilt has score 240 – so 4 runs in it.  Joel and Jake strode out to the wicket – 16 runs off the bat (including 2 boundaries from Jake and 1 from Joel) and 10 extras was a positive 4 overs, we did lose a wicket but with 265 set, the game was close.  Final pair out, Massimo and Bastiaan – a boundary from Massimo on the first bowl saw a win get closer.  With the final over we were ‘Déjà vu’ – Captain vs Captain in the last over - The batting pair worked well together, batting defensively, not giving away their wicket, with 15 runs scored, with the extras, the final score was 290.  An excellent win for the Cygnets!
3 very proud coaches (and parents).  The players should be duly proud of themselves.  A strong opposition, a close game and excellent team work resulted in a well-deserved win.  A good game of cricket.  Our next match is 14th May at home against Slinfold.