England League and Cup Discussion

[wolfberries]

T. Benneworth (lws) 2.4-0-10-3, C. Keerthilatha 7 (9b)
End of over 17 (5 runs) - Knockout Heroes(76-10) RR 4.47

Will take that, although it's certainly very bowler friendly conditions.

[wolfberries]

Knockout Heroes wolfberries
Batting - Top Order 14,262 14,056
Batting - Middle Order 10,553 11,391
Batting - Tail 5,796 5,456
Bowling - Seam 14,038 (12) 13,952 (12)
Bowling - Spin 14,694 (8) 13,251 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 15,787 17,088
Overall 235,511 237,783

Result: wolfberries won by 5 wickets

Managed a much needed win and we were struggling in our chase at one point.

[spark]

Egham Town CC Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 14,720 14,883
Batting - Middle Order 12,706 11,343
Batting - Tail 6,632 4,934
Bowling - Seam 14,573 (8) 14,221 (12)
Bowling - Spin 14,142 (12) 12,206 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 17,489 17,501
Overall 253,639 239,286

Ruff Royals won by 2 runs

I'm delighted with that. I thought this might have meant we were 8 points clear of the relegation zone but, sadly for me, other teams won too so we're still only 4 points clear (also 4 points off top spot).

I didn't think we had scored enough on a dry pitch (136) despite 59 from McCall and 39 from Clarke. It was tense throughout and luckily were able to defend 9 runs in the last over with a wicket for Westerveld in the last over plus 2 runouts from the last 2 balls.

[spark]

South Hill Slammers Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 7,512 6,930
Batting - Middle Order 4,750 7,230
Batting - Tail 4,309 5,146
Bowling - Seam 5,099 (16) 6,807 (24)
Bowling - Spin 8,166 (24) 8,238 (16)
Fielding/Keeping 8,765 8,808
Overall 122,968 135,400

Ruff Royals won by 1 wicket

A bit of a rollercoaster of a game. We lost the toss and were made to bowl. We didn't start well and they got to 65 without losing a wicket and I was fearing the worst at 96-2. We then got amongst the wickets with Bennett in particular being excellent (4-30) and bowled them out for 150.

We then didn't do well with the bat and were soon 61-6. It was once again Bennett to the rescue with 54 not out from 74 balls as we squeaked across the finish line with 1 ball and 1 wicket to spare.

It's a crucial win as we now go 8 points clear at the top of Youth 2.1 with 5 games to play.

[wolfberries]

Sledgingshire wolfberries
Batting - Top Order 6,801 4,207
Batting - Middle Order 4,616 4,414
Batting - Tail 3,455 2,973
Bowling - Seam 6,403 (24) 4,788 (24)
Bowling - Spin 7,103 (16) 3,437 (16)
Fielding/Keeping 8,581 7,358
Overall 115,199 86,715

Result: Sledgingshire won by 5 wickets

Another expected loss.

[spark]

Home Sledgingshire
Away Ruff Royals
Ground Bunsen Beach
League One Day 1.1
Date 11 Aug 23 10:00
Crowd 18,316
Weather Cloudy
Pitch Slow

The first of two big senior games in a row against Sledgingshire (3 games against them in the next 4 in all competitions). I can't say I'm confident as I've got a bad feeling about today's game; I think our batters are going to really let us down. We lost the toss and have been made to bat first.

[spark]

C. Richards (rfs) 5-0-23-0, W. Mills 20 (38b), A. Clarke 14 (17b)
End of over 36 (1 run) - Ruff Royals(180-4) RR 5.00

This has gone better than I thought so far. I didn't expect to even get to 180. I'm still expecting us to lose but at least I lay all the blame on my batters and my changes to the batting order seem to have worked. McCall scored 57 after I moved him back up to opener and House made 53. I suspect we might regret one of those not going on to make a really big total.

[spark]

K. Abid (lfm) 10-0-67-1, W. Mills 80 (82b), J. Westerveld 16 (25b)
End of over 50 (9 runs) - Ruff Royals(277-6) RR 5.54

I'm very pleased with this. Mills moving down from opening to number 5 really seemed to pay off and I guess this means he'll play here for the rest of the season. I'm doubting that this is actually the slow pitch that was advertised so we'll have to see how well my bowlers do.

[wolfberries]

Home YorkshireTykes
Away wolfberries
Ground YorkshireTykes CG
League One Day 2.2
Date 11 Aug 23 10:00
Crowd 15,000
Weather Cloudy
Pitch Hard

Toss: wolfberries won the toss and elected to bat.

102ao

[spark]

Ruff Royals won by 97 runs

Sledgingshire Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 13,837 13,549
Batting - Middle Order 11,093 12,174
Batting - Tail 5,633 4,280
Bowling - Seam 13,926 (20) 14,480 (30)
Bowling - Spin 13,900 (30) 13,508 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 17,334 17,607
Overall 238,175 239,011

A huge win which really helps the NRR and leaves us 8 points clear of the relegation zone and means we probably need 2 wins to secure our position in the league for next season.

Schneider and Rush picked up 3 wickets each in a decent bowling display but it was my much maligned (by me) batters who really got us the win after positng 277 on a slow pitch. Mills excelled in his new position and got 80 not out from 82 balls.

[casperj]

Crestfallen Sidekicks Walmer Wanderers
Batting - Top Order 11,577 13,912
Batting - Middle Order 13,165 8,229
Batting - Tail 6,128 4,471
Bowling - Seam 13,116 (20) 11,126 (40)
Bowling - Spin 14,020 (30) 13,680 (10)
Fielding/Keeping 15,741 9,710
Overall 232,867 189,296

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 7 wickets

Weird one. Cloudy / Crumbling so was expecting a wicket fest! Opponent got 177-5, and my guys got (178-3) . Still a win's a win I suppose.

[spark]

Ruff Royals won by 6 wickets

The Dross Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 8,110 6,905
Batting - Middle Order 6,677 7,068
Batting - Tail 4,509 4,649
Bowling - Seam 7,437 (16) 6,913 (9)
Bowling - Spin 9,819 (4) 7,600 (11)
Fielding/Keeping 9,087 8,783
Overall 139,508 132,646

I didn't think our bowling was that great today on a crumbling pitch and they scored 127. Not a disaster but more than I'd have liked to chase.

Our batting didn't start well but allrounders saved us, especially Delap who got 49 from 45 balls.

Next week is a must win game against Oxhey Players if we are to stand any chance of knocking them off top spot. It's a forlorn hope really as they are 8 points ahead with 4 games to go and they have a massive NRR advantage.

[wolfberries]

wolfberries Red Fox
Batting - Top Order 5,581 3,406
Batting - Middle Order 4,114 3,928
Batting - Tail 3,055 2,088
Bowling - Seam 4,588 (16) 4,721 (12)
Bowling - Spin 3,635 (4) 3,471 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 8,270 5,078
Overall 94,741 71,940

Result: wolfberries won by 55 runs

Even if the win is against a bot, I will take it.

[wolfberries]

Home wolfberries
Away Pedagogs
Ground wolfberries CG
League Twenty20 2.1
Date 15 Aug 23 10:00
Crowd 18,774
Weather Cloudy
Pitch Slow

Toss: wolfberries won the toss and elected to bat

Need to win to stay top, going to be a very tough game today.

[wolfberries]

R. Tamir (rfm) 4-0-41-1, L. Shurmer 0 (0b), C. Martel 14 (12b)
End of over 20 (15 runs) - wolfberries(146-6) RR 7.30

Not the worst total today, whether we can defend this is another thing.