U11 Cup Quarter Final - Thriller III

Even before a ball was bowled Willoughby had taken a big hit with Krish Deshpande unable to play having sprained his wrist. We wish him a speedy recovery. The team manager and Coach tried to find a replacement but to no avail. Thankfully the sporting Oakfield offered to lend us a fielder and fairly selected our batsman that would bat twice, Kaitlin Porter.

Eddie Button won the toss and decided to bat first not wanting his team to field in the baking hot sun. Kaitlin Porter and Alfie Offord opened the innings. Alfie hit four 4s, all pull shots, on his way to hitting 18 gross runs. He was out twice trying to pull lower straighter balls. Kaitlin batted wonderfully for her 8 runs which included her first 4, a beautiful cover drive which raced to the boundary. Ollie Morris-Nicholls came to the crease to join Kaitlin for her second innings. Some good bowling from Oakfield meant that they were both bowled once and the score moved from 218 to 226. With the sun beating down on the children, Sue Morris kindly prepared some drinks for them at 8 overs and indeed throughout the match. Thank you sue. Mehul Patel and Luke Loddick hit some lovely shots but unfortunately to a well set field. Good tight bowling again from Oakfield meant that each batsman was bowled out once and the score remained on 226. Eddie,16* and Aiden Porter, 9* attacked the bowling adding 30 runs. They both hit some delightful boundaries and ran a number of good quick singles. The target for Oakfield was a modest 257.

Willoughby needed to bowl very tightly to be in with a chance. Eddie turned to his reliable opening pair of Ollie and Mehul and they didn't disappoint finishing with figures of 3-1-15-0 and 3-1-4-1. Luke struck with his 1st ball. He, Kailin, Aiden and Luke bowled at the 3rd pair and kept up the pressure and after 12 overs the score was 242. Oakfield needed 15 runs to win off 4 overs. Aiden;s first over went for just 3 runs. Eddie's took a wicket meaning Oakfield went back to 242. Oakfield decided to swing the bat and put the field under some pressure. It worked and resulted in 9 runs off the over but Aiden had the last laugh by taking a wicket. Eleven runs required from Eddie's final over. He was bowling with good pace and at the stumps. The batsmen were struggling to defend let alone score. Ball 1 was a dot and then Eddie bowled each batsman giving him the chance of a hat-trick. Unfortunately there was no hat-trick but Willoughby had contained Oakfield to 241 thus wining by 15 runs.

Thanks to Steve Porter for helping with the scoring, Jon Offord for helping with the boundary and Eric Palmer for opening the bar.

It was yet again another great team performance from Willoughby with everyone contributing with bat, ball and in the field. The team are both supportive and encouraging to each other and recognise good performances on both teams.

Well done Willoughby U11s and good luck in the semi-finals