The Under-13s made it two wins out of two on Tuesday evening at the Theatre of Dreams/Screams/Scenes (delete as appropriate). The lovely weather from the previous evening at Colts training had been replaced by a chilly breeze, grey skies, and the threat of rain. We welcomed our friends from Hartley Wintney, who tend to provide a good-natured, competitive game.
Oaks Bat First
Captain Caden lost the toss, and we were asked to bat first with Caden and Big Ed Tucknott striding out to get things underway. Fresh from scoring the winning runs in the previous game, Ed was no doubt hoping to pick up where he left off. However, cricket is a cruel mistress, and no sooner had he arrived than he was making the long trudge back, sadly run out without facing a ball as his skipper set off on a Red Bull run that was never on. Lots of “no’s” and “yes’s” and “after you, sir’s,” but the result was Oakley 0-1 off 2 balls. Tom Mc was next up and soon steadied the ship with Caden, both striking some fours and running (a little) more sensibly with Caden’s high-energy performance drink having seemingly worn off.
After Caden went for a brisk 9, Seth joined Tom for an equally swift 6. After Seth was run out, Tom was joined by George, who kept up his early-season form (and excellent improvements generally) to move things along. The first retiree of the season, George played some good shots on his way to 30, including a lovely straight 6. A few cameos followed with Lucas and Harry A before new boy Alex, playing his second game for Oakley, joined in with a nice innings of 12, including two 4’s. Finley, Miles, and Harry B added a little flourish, and Oakley ended their innings on 125-9, which was a decent score but one which meant we had to bowl well.
Defending 125
And bowl well we did. The regular opening pair of Caden and George once again did the damage, as they did in the previous game, with Caden picking up two wickets (clean bowled) and George one wicket (again clean bowled) and a run out. Lucas also got in on the act, picking up a wicket (clean bowled), along with Alex (caught and bowled), and Seth (clean bowled with a beauty). Caden made sure that everyone got a bowl as the Hartley Wintney innings petered out to 90-7 from their 20 overs.
A cup match on Sunday (weather permitting) sees the 13’s back in action.
It is pleasing to see all the hard work that the chaps put in at training is paying off. We always focus on teamwork in the field, accuracy when bowling, and enjoying playing your shots. We now regularly take our chances at run-outs and pick up a lot of wickets clean bowled, which proves that hard work pays off.
Well done, everyone.