The Under 10 Sixers pulled off a dramatic victory in their first match of the season at the Castle Ground overhauling Churt & Hindhead in the last over and claiming a victory by two runs.

Captain Patrick won the toss and put Churt into bat, a decision the team were firmly behind. However, Churt set about their task in determined fashion with the opening pair making 35 and smashing six boundaries, despite some tidy Farnham bowling and bigger boundaries than last year. Nathan flung himself into the wicket keeper role for the first half of the innings, gaining in confidence and pouncing on many a ball during his stint before Leo took over in the second half.

The second Churt pair were limited to 20, with tidy overs from Patrick, Leo and Edward but no wickets fell. The third pair made 19 but importantly Ben took out the stumps with a vicious delivery to break the wicket drought.
Despite the early start the strong sun started to take its toll and a few fielding and bowling errors started to creep in. The final pair made 31 but crucially Alex and then Patrick both struck to limit Churt’s total to 95 - a solid but achievable total.

Ben and Nathan opened the batting for Farnham and with just three off the first over it looked like it could be a big ask. They batted solidly and ran sensibly and came away with 20 from their partnership and no wickets lost.
Next up were Patrick & Alex whose stand out partnership added 41 runs with four boundaries to the score and put Farnham in front at the halfway stage. George and Edward faced some accurate and economic bowling and some careful fielding from an organised Churt team but pushed the total on to 74, which set up a target of 22 to win from the final four overs.

Kian and Leo confidently stepped up to bring Farnham home but there was drama left in this tight match. Seven runs from the first of four overs steadied the nerves and when Kian smashed a pull shot into the shrubbery at the start of the next over, a comfortable victory seemed likely. Alas, no. Next ball he didn’t connect with a straighter delivery and the bails fell. No heads dropped in this team today though and another boundary from the very next ball, before Leo closed out the over with a third, left Farnham on 91 with two overs remaining and needing five to win.

Fortunes for this last pair swayed like the surrounding huge trees in the stiff spring breeze. What should have been a formality was made more difficult by a fantastic penultimate over from Churt’s bowler Jake, with just one run added. A dot ball at the start of the final over heightened the nerves in the crowd but Kian and Leo held theirs sublimely. They picked off singles from the next four balls to put Farnham ahead by one. In this format though the game was not over but Leo swatted away the final delivery to seal a thrilling victory.

This was a match of fine margins and absolutely everyone played a huge part. Patrick was named man of the match for his solid batting and miserly bowling but contenders were numerous.

Thank you to Emily for the drinks and biscuits, James & Yvonne for scoring, James for his outstanding team talks and Ian for standing up to organise and umpire with aplomb.