As the end of term approaches we were able to get plenty of cricket in last week in some much improved weather!
The U12s travelled down to Skinners on Friday afternoon and although the As had a below par performance with the bat and had Oli to thank top scoring with 26 in our total of only 76 they bowled and fielded superbly to win by 25 runs. The Bs were involved in a close game as Tom led the way scoring 44 in our total of 130 which was unfortunately 6 runs short of the target. The Cs won another close game by just 2 runs thanks to a fantastic run out by Sam which sealed the victory. Then on Saturday morning the As and Bs both had comfortable victories over Colfe’s. The As bowled Colfe’s out for just 70 with Matt and Zac bowling well. The side knocked off the runs relatively comfortably to win by 8 wickets with Oli again batting nicely. Damian scored an excellent 36 not out as the Bs won by 60 runs. Oscar was the star with the ball taking 4 wickets in his 2 overs. Good luck to the A team who take on Hayes School in the Kent Cup Semi Final on Monday.
The U13s travelled down to Sevenoaks last Monday afternoon but both teams struggled on slow and low wickets. The As bowled well to restrict Sevenoaks to 81 in 20 overs as Jon took 3-16 in 4 overs. However, we couldn’t get going in reply and although were always in the game late wickets cost us as we fell 7 runs short. In the Bs our score of 105 in 20 overs wasn’t enough as despite some good bowling by Alex P we lost by 5 wickets.
The U14s were knocked out of the Kent Cup in the Quarter Final by a very strong Tonbridge side in wet conditions on Tuesday but bounced back with a comfortable win over Colfe’s on Saturday. Chris J was the star performer as part of an excellent all round bowling display as he took 3 wickets for 4 runs in Colfe’s total of 46. This was knocked off comfortably in a 9 wicket Eltham win. An A and B team also played Sevenoaks on Thursday afternoon and both were involved in close games. Despite Ishaq taking a wicket with Mr Thorogood’s ‘ball of the season’ Sevenoaks batted well to score 183 in 25 overs. In reply, we lost early wickets before Oli E and Harry led a fightback. Oli scored a brilliant 65 not out but late wickets meant we fell away to finish 25 short. Chris J scored 50 in the Bs and Dylan 28 as we totalled 134 off 20 overs but a slightly sloppy bowling and fielding display meant we lost by 8 wickets.
Wet weather led to the U15s matches against Sevenoaks being called off but they put in a superb performance on Saturday to beat Colfe’s by 75 runs. Batting first Charlie S scored 58 and Benjy 43 in our total of 137. Before Tom O’D was the pick of the bowlers taking 3-8 in his 4 overs as we bowled Colfe’s out for 62.
With exams all but finished there was plenty of Senior cricket last week although the 2nd XI were let down by Colfe’s not being able to field a team on Saturday morning. The 1st XI fielded a young side in their annual fixture with The Forty Club last Wednesday with four Year 10s playing. Charlie S, Benjy, Matt and Louis all contributed in a good victory. In a timed match the boys stuck at it in the field to restrict The Forty Club to 168-9 declared in 54 overs. Louis and Matt were both in the wickets as were James B, Joe B and Rikin. Although we lost an early wicket in reply, Rikin and Anu built a good partnership to put us in a strong position going into the last 20 overs. Rikin was dismissed for 30 but this brought Ben M to the crease who took the attack to the opposition and scored a fantastic 67 including 50 off just 27 balls. We had a small collapse at the end but Anu stayed calm and reached his 50 too as he and Charlie knocked off the winning runs to win by 5 wickets. It was fantastic to welcome The MCC to school last Thursday especially as the opposition included five Old Elthamians. And it was OE George Haley (2014) who played the match winning innings. After some good bowling by Reyhan, Connor and Ben D had put the 1st XI in a good position early George played a superb innings of 124 not out as The MCC declared at 239-6. Rikin and Ben batted excellently in partnership for the 2nd wicket as we reached 90-1 with plenty of overs to go in reply but a collapse against some good spin and seam bowling meant we fell away to lose by 80 runs. The side then had an incredible match against Colfe’s on Saturday but ultimately fell short of the 176 target by 1 run. Connor and Ben were again the stand out performers with the ball well supported by James and Joe and the side felt confident of chasing the total down. However, only Archie got stuck in with the bat as he scored 47 in reply. Good striking by Richy and Ollie kept us in the game but James could only manage 1 off the final ball with 3 required for victory.
