Brave u12s go down to Broxbourne u13s

Broxbourne u13s away was always going to be a big test for our team comprising a mix of players (some of whom were playing their first 11-a-side game). Losing the toass and bowling first we bowled really well for the first 10-12 overs or so. On a pitch with variable bounce, straight bowling brought its rewards early with a wicket for Ed W and the run rate was kept down to 6 an over despite small boundaries and on a rock hard outfield. Once Broxbourne's best batter retired, we took wickets regularly. There was a great catch by Zach B and some excellent goalie saves from Charlie W behind the stumps. However we let ourselves down a bit with too many bowling extras and way too many balls allowed to go past and through our fielders on the boundary for four. Wickets were shared around with one each for Chris D, Toby, Kieran and Zach and two for Ed W. Special shout pouts to Grace who went for just 6 from two overs and Zach B who took a wicket for just 3 runs from his over. Nearly all wickets were bowled with batters playing across the line to balls that stayed low....would our batters learn from that!
Chasing 135 to win was a big ask, but openers Kieran and Thomas A set off well and thanks to some uncharacteristic loose bowling from Broxbourne we reached 22 off 3 overs. However thereafter the bowling improved and despite an excellent 28* from Charlie W who hit five glorious 4s and a very brave 19 from Toby, who was hit more than once and lost several layers of skin diving to make a quick single, we fell behind the required rate. Slogging at the end we lost three wickets to the last 3 balls of the game and ended 25 runs short. Good learning points for all, we did bat well on a difficult wicket, but need to show more intensity with running and batting to chase totals of this nature. However given most of the opposition were their u13s and we had a mixed size out it was a really spirited display and they should all go away with some lessons to learn and pride intact.