Seeking revenge for a narrow defeat earlier in the season, the Under 10’s couldn’t quite get over the line in yet another close contest against Broxbourne.
Batting first, opening pair Teddy (24no) and Charlie (14) got the team off to a flying start, crashing 6 boundaries between them to finish their set of overs on 241/1.
In fact, there was plenty of quality stroke play throughout the innings, with everyone contributing with the bat and making Broxbourne work extremely hard in the field. Rupert (16) and Lestyn (8) both found the boundary and Bradley (10no) found plenty of gaps on the offside to finish unbeaten on 10.
Over the 20 overs, U10s scored 112 runs, a staggering 87 of which came off the bat! But unfortunately these runs came at a cost. Too often our running between the wickets was muddled, causing needless run outs and we would do well to play more shots with a straighter bat. By the close of the inning, U10 had lost 12 wickets at a cost of 60 runs, setting Broxbourne an achievable 253 to win.
The U10 set out about defending their total with great energy. The bowling was mostly accurate and the fielding was sharp as Broxbourne were limited to very few scoring opportunities. 2 wickets for Teddy and 1 each for Oliver and Charlie, including a fine catch by Stephan, had Broxbourne at 212/4 and behind on the win predictor at the midway point of the innings.
But whether it was tiredness from the heat or a brief distraction from some noisy football fans passing by the ground, U10 just allowed their concentration to drift. James bowled consistently and deserved a wicket for his efforts, conceding just 3 runs off his 3 overs. But it wasn’t quite enough, as the final 2 Broxbourne pairs worked well together to capitalise on some casual fielding and cautiously creep over the runs required. They finished on 258/4, with 38 runs coming from extras.
If ever there was a lesson that you can’t just hit your way to victory in cricket then this was surely it! Whilst it was joy to watch U10 spray the ball to every corner the ground, we must improve at running between the wickets and protecting our stumps.