From Rich Whitehorn…

The Under 10 Sixers pulled off a last over victory with a highly motivated and focused fielding display at Crondall and enough drama to keep this reporter’s book of space-filling meandering cricketing metaphors closed for another week.

Recent heavy rain had softened the pitch significantly and when Farnham were put in to bat, the first few overs suggested building any kind of run tally would be tricky. Bourne’s first bowlers were aggressive and made the most of the lack of bounce. After a couple of early wickets Ben and Sonny steadied the ship, ran sensibly and came out positive. Charlie and Lyla took over and moved the score along to 17 with no lost wickets and in spite of very few balls to swing at. Patrick and Alex ran well and made 14 before Kian and Leo closed with no loss, and the only boundary courtesy of Kian. A slightly frustrating innings, hampered by the pitch as well as the bowling speed and direction, left Bourne with a target of just 51.

If Farnham were to stave off the Bourne challenge it would require accurate bowling and a huge team effort in the field. An aggressive field was set and Kian opened the bowling with intent before Ben was first to strike in the third. Charlie opened his haul of run outs with a sharp piece of glovework from behind the stumps in the fourth and the first pair were pegged back to five. Lyla and Sonny produced frugal overs and a direct hit run out from Patrick limited the score to 13 at half way.

The third partnership moved the score to 25 despite Charlie’s second stumping but the final Bourne pair, with their strongest batter, strode out with a clear belief they could take it home.
The very first delivery was pounded to bounce just short of the boundary, and Bourne surged to 37 with two overs remaining. With only 14 needed and momentum swinging against them, the Sixers looked under serious pressure. Three balls later, the target was reduced to just 4. The writing seemed to be on the wall, but sport is never without its twists.
Kian dusted himself down and bowled the strongest batter - a moment that reignited belief (amongst the spectators at least). Patrick stepped up to bowl the final over, defending an 8 run lead, however Bourne’s aggressive running was immediately punished with Charlie swooping to his third run out before Kian added another two balls later. Patrick put the finishing touch to a superbly disciplined team performance in the field with a wicket on the last ball to secure a memorable 21 run victory and the Farnham team erupted in celebration.

No one player stood out this week and the score sheet showed how well everyone bowled and reflected excellent decision making in the field. Charlie was superb and alert behind the stumps, Sonny showed great character to come back from his own disappointment with his batting and bowl some great overs and Patrick demonstrated amazing calmness to bowl the crucial final balls.

Thank you to Ian for umpiring again, Phil, Tom and Sonny’s dad for scoring, Julia and Emily for handling refreshments and Ben’s mum for making sure everyone was equipped to bat.

PS: The Sixers will be devastated to hear I found a spare packet of Bourbon biscuits in my bag when I got home. They can hopefully take solace that this packet went on to fuel the Black Cap’s cup victory later in the day as the opposition tried to starve them into submission with no half time biscuits.