Blast off!

On a busy day for the U9s half the squad were over at Knotty Green playing for the Blast team whilst other half were at Marlow. Tom B was capt and won the toss and decided to bat (I think?) Jack and Barnaby opened up, we were rocked in the first over with Jack being out for the first time this season, but he and Barnaby recovered to hit 7 fours between them and move the score to 226 after 4 overs. Tom B and Casper next in, special mention to Tom who scored his first runs of the season, and casper for 3 great fours (offset by a couple of wickets!) . After 8 overs 240. Rafi and Kingsley in next, Kingsley took the majority of the strike, which is how it goes sometimes, and scored a very good 19. The pair didnt lose a wicket and moved the score to 268. Birthday boy Ewan was in next, with Henry. Henry wielded "The Hammer" as usual, hitting 4s, but also losing wickets - the cricket challenge right there! Ewan played some lovely straight drives and we were 293 after 16. Last pair were Thomas E and Miles, who unusually got tied down with the bowling and found it difficult to get the ball away. They didnt panic though and we ended on 293 after 20 overs - a very competitive total.

After drinks and snacks (thank you knotty!) it was our turn to field and I have to say the most awake, noisy, supportive fielding display of the season - well done. Jack and Barnaby started up with a wicket each, followed by Casper with a couple. Tom B bowled his best 2 overs of the season, conceding runs from the bat but no wides which he should be really proud of! it was the pairing of Kingsley and Rafi though that did most of the damage. Nine wickets fell in their four overs, both of them on hat tricks and some great catches being held. Ewan demonstrated he had received the present of leg spin bowling for his birthday (we hadnt seen it before yesterday!) but it turned out quite unplayable. Henry also chipped in with a couple of wickets. Knotty kept swinging to their credit against Thomas E and Miles at the end but the wickets in the middle had made it difficult to catch up.

A good win but more for the fact that we did a lot more of the basics right, we only gave away 12 wides, we caught just about everything, we looked keen in the field and we batted with aggression.

Well done