Effingham U11 vs Weybridge

Friday evening saw us play our crunch match against Weybridge. We were without Finn, who had  single handedly given us victory in our previous match against them back in October, so a determined team effort was needed. We didn’t disappoint. Weybridge batting first lost their opener to the 3^rd ball of the innings to Sam Partridge, and I missed it as I didn’t get up the stairs in time to the viewing gallery. Sam was pick of the bowlers this week taking 1-6 off his 3 overs, but overall the boys did what was asked of them and restricted Weybridge with some accurate bowling. Only 39 were scored from wides which was a great effort as earlier in the season we once conceded 72!

With Weybridge well behind a competitive run rate, Effingham continued to keep it tight, again aided by the excellent accuracy of William, who over the season so far has been our most economical bowler. The boys worked well and were organised as a team, pushing their barriers to achieve this, most notably from Callum pulling off an unbelievable stop for a certain four. Samuel Spencer relinquished his keeping duties to cause a Weybridge collapse. He took 3 wickets including a sliding lunge off his own bowling to cling on to the ball and take some skin off his elbow in the process. Weybridge suddenly found themselves unable to up the run rate and were all out for 103 off the last ball.

Raymond and Callum opening in reply nudged the ball around for the first few overs making sure they played themselves in. Weybridge had some bowling pedigree, with 3 particularly nippy boys, who also kept things initially tight. Raymond and Callum then opened up and one particularly spectacular over saw Raymond punish their opening bowler with three 4s and a six before his retirement on 25. Callum joined him later with 26, leaving Samuel and Joshua to guide us home in style before the end of the 12^th over. This win with maximum bowling bonus points all but secures our place at the top of the league as we remain unbeaten. However, it has been confirmed to me that the finals night on 24 March will decide the overall champion.

Next game is Friday 24 February against Hampton.

Kind regards,
Darren Wing