| Match Report |
Hadleigh and Thundersley 170 for 2 Brentwood 115 all out. Hadleigh and Thundersley won by 55 runs.
The first home match for the U18 Buccaneers saw a comprehensive victory for the visiting side. Both teams knew that this was the big match in the group stage. The side who wins here would expect to get into the semi finals. The Brentwood side were prepared and ready for a tough battle. But they let themselves down with some erratic bowling and too many mistakes in the field. Disappointing as the mistakes were amongst moments of quality and skill that has been evident at this age group. The H+T batsmen were very strong, M Wagstaff was the power, 72 off just 37 deliveries...ouch, this included three 6's. Phillipe hit an unbeaten 62 off 59. One injustice of the great game is that the scorebook never tells the whole story - this was that both of these batsmen were well beaten by the leg spin bowling of Connor Whetstone, who saw two simple catches dropped off his bowling.
171 was a big target but eight and a half an over was within the capabilities of the Buccaneers. Ali was run out early, Maxwell went over the top, literally and metaphorically, hitting 23 off just 13 but died by his own sword. What happened next was one of the positive moments for Brentwood U18's as Matt Bell batted with effort and skill. He hit 35 off 31 including only two boundaries, as he with his partners Whetstone, Hull and then Dawes pinched singles, twos and an all run four. It was the last spirited fight as the run rate increased and wickets tumbled. At the ninth over Brentwood were 72 for three and well placed but a lack of depth in batting meant that they fell away quickly. Lee came back on , bowled straight to take a hat trick.
The Brentwood U18's were beaten comfortably and by a very good opposition. Did that opposition see the best of our Buccaneers? not on this night. |