SCC Colts News!
U11s vs. Purley
(July 07, 2010)
SQUARE BASHING
Sutton U11 172 for 0 (24 overs)
Purley U11 68 all
out (23.5 overs)
Sutton Win By 104 runs
Sutton travelled to a new venue on the under 11 circuit to play Purley
at their pleasant Garrison Ground in Caterham on yet another red hot Sunday
morning. The only heavy artillery on show, on a ground previously used by the
army and surrounded by former barracks, were Sutton’s top order who piled on
their highest score of the season without conceding a single wicket.
Cap’n Harry lost the toss but got his wish to bat first as
the opposition captain put Sutton in first. It proved to be the last time
Purley had their noses in front as aggressive batting and persistent work in
the field resulted in a convincing win. Harry played the anchor role this week
with a solid and patient 32 ret, and underpinned an opening stand of 74 with
Owen (31 ret off 23 balls) and a second partnership of 32 with Jack (31 ret off
26) enjoying the opportunity to bat a little further up the order and
resplendent in his Winnie The Pooh plaster. Seeing his side through to 106
before retiring to put the icing on his birthday cake was almost Strauss-like
in its contribution to the teams score and saw Harry pass 100 runs for the
season. All the early batsmen had to control their frustration as the home
bowling got a little wayward at times but when they had the chance they cut
loose with some forceful hitting to score at almost 8 an over. Smart calling
and running added at least 20 to the total as all the batsmen batted for the
side, with Matthew typifying the effort with another unbeaten 20-odd, and
adding 30 with Patrick at the end as the innings closed on 172 for 0.
The Sutton total might have encouraged a less than focused
effort in the field but Harry’s troops applied their usual pressure right from
the start and soon had Purley reeling at 30 for 6 after 11 overs. Early damage
was done by new opening bowler Ayrton’s 2 for 14 off 4, Patrick’s 2 for 5 and
Sam Mannion’s 2 for 3 with two LBWs showing proper reward for his predictably
straight bowling. Jonah, Ethan and Lekan chipped in with a wicket each all
courtesy of stumpings from Matthew who had a field day behind the stumps with 4
stump demolitions to keep the umpires awake at square leg. Purley rallied a
little in mid innings and almost took the game the distance until Harry brought
himself on to bowl and mop up the last home wicket with the penultimate ball.
Debutant James took a great catch off Patrick and distinguished himself in the
field throughout. The fielding and bowling in general remained persistent and
focused in the face of some effective stonewalling by Purley. It was maybe a
taste of what might be to come if they ever make a test match against
Bangladesh!
Harry handled the bowlers well and enabled everyone to
take something from a match that looked “won” early on but still required great
concentration and focus (words used an awful lot in team-talks sorry!) to
finish Purley off. All of these games no matter how they turn out deliver
lessons of some sort and this was no exception and allowing all of the boys to
enjoy a well-earned piece of cake to celebrate the captain’s birthday at the
close. I had mine at 10pm that evening and it tasted as sweet as this win.
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