Farnham u9 Black Caps put in a very strong performance with bat and ball to win the match.

Farnham were put into bat first after a long break due to the relentless May rain.

All pairs scored at a good rate with fours coming from all of them. This was particularly difficult with all the recent rain and the ball offering very little bounce. Good footwork and improvisation gave Farnham a solid total of 263 to defend.

Two wickets came in the first four overs from Sebastian Newton and Toby Bloomfield to put the pressure on Black Heath. Thomas Wilson bowled a maiden in his first over with Dylan Gunasekara supporting the bowling with few runs conceded, and Sharp Farnham fielding encouraged by their captain Sebastian helping throughout.

Next up to bowl were James Wild and Jacob Vacassin. James struck with a wicket in his first over, and Jacob who was playing his debut game started with a hat-trick! After taking in the applause from players and spectators he went on to concede only one run from the remaining three balls. A dot ball away from a three-wicket maiden on his debut!

Hector Soanes and Mae Dickinson were up next. Hector, also on his debut, responded with a wicket from his first ball! Mae found her line and length to keep the pressure on and leave Black Heath with 212 at the halfway stage of their innings and an awful lot to do to reach Farnham’s total.

More consistent bowling from Farnham saw wickets fall again, even though Black Heath managed a flurry of boundaries, the damage had already been done. Mae held her nerve in the final over to see the game out.

A deserved victory and massive improvement from the team. They have a very proud and happy coach!

On another day, the player of the match could have gone to Toby Bloomfield for his three-wicket haul, or to Thomas Wilson for his superb, instinctive one handed caught and bowled, but this time it can only go to Jacob Vacassin for his debut hattrick! An amazing achievement and the first I have seen while coaching!

Player of the match: Jacob Vacassin