A young team, short of a full complement of 11 players, took on the League leaders, Ansty at Whiteman’s Green. The Ansty team in comparison were very experienced and having won the toss they requested Hill to bat first, clearly expecting to roll over the youngsters and going home early with 30 points.
Their decision to ask us to bat looked a good one initially. After a steady start, openers Andy McNiven and Toby Wardrobe fell in quick succession and although the innings seemed to be steadied we lost wickets at regular intervals through good bowling rather than bad shots. With Joe Hartley, Adam Hughes and Izzy Deamer back in the Pavilion Hill were 5 down with 40 on the board after only 20 or so overs. Coming in first wicket down Ollie Read was still there and joined by Jeffers they set about rebuilding the innings.
Ollie batted superbly and hit an almost chanceless 38 not out and with Jeffers they used up the remaining 27 overs, much to the frustration of the opposition, taking the score to a more respectable 110 for 5 after the allotted 47 overs. This gave the Hill bowlers something to bowl at and equally importantly deprived the opposition of any bowling points, as they had won the toss and inserted the opposition.
Adam Hughes and Joe Hartley opened the bowling and these youngsters tore into the more experienced opponents. Each of them secured 2 wickets in their opening spells and soon Ansty realised they were in a game and the target of 111 seemed a long way off. First change saw Toby Wardrobe secure a wicket with his first ball, with the batsman brilliantly caught behind, one handed high to her right by debutant Izzy Deamer. What a superb addition to the team Izzy was, chirpy, positive throughout, just what a team needs from their wicketkeeper and only 1 bye conceded throughout the entire innings. Toby finished with 4 for 11 from his 6 overs, a good tight spell of bowling. Ollie Read bowled tightly from the other end and then Adam Hughes returned to finish the innings with figures of 3 for 22. Ansty 87 all out and Hill winning by 23 runs. The bowlers were ably supported in the field by young James Rose and not so young Rich Humphreys both of whom covered acres in our quest to restrict the runs.
Overall a fantastic team performance particularly by the youngsters and against all the odds.