Massive 20 for the Exiles

Alkborough's captain guessed correctly at the toss and elected to field.

Nabil and Dave Knowles opened up and were very watchful on another soft Barracks wicket following another damp end to the week. Nabil (12) went with the score on 36 in the 16th over by getting slightly early on one and chipping to cover; collecting the catch over his shoulder. Glyn joined Dave and fell for 11, smartly caught by the wicket keeper low down the leg side. This left the score 62-2 from 23 overs at drinks. A nice platform set and a decent total of 140-150 in our sights. Hugo and Martin both fell quickly whilst Dave went on to bring up his half century. Score now 93-4 off 28.
Eddie joined Dave and a strong partnership followed as the boundaries flowed and the strike rotated effectively. This flurry of boundaries allowed Dave to bring up his century very quickly. It was a great knock which showed the importance of sticking in when the conditions were tough and then playing the correct cricket shots later on. He did fall, however, in the 40th over for 108 (13x4s & 5x6s) with the score now 172-5. Ben Morrison joined Eddie and struck a swift 20 before being bowled in the last over. Zac completed the innings with Eddie who was 37* in a well constructed supportive knock in taking the total to 207-6 from 45.

Despite knowing Alkborough only had nine batsmen as a result of their two U'13 players being unavailable for batting due to league rules we still had to concentrate and get the job done. Rob Cohu and Glyn opened up the bowling and despite a decent start the openers had reached 36-0 off 10 overs. The breakthrough did arrive as a leg stump ball from Rob was cleanly hit to Anton at square leg, taking a sharp catch in front of his face. One did bring two in this instance as Rob claimed his second a couple of balls later, with the wickets gaining Rob an extra over to the spell. Glyn continued to bowl well and also managed to extend his spell by taking a wicket in his eighth over. Glyn then proceeded to bowl three more from the middle order and take his tally to 10-2-16-4. Anton took over from Rob and also bowled well and got his reward with a wicket. Zac also chipped in with the final wicket to leave Alkborough 58 all out in the 24th over.

A massive 20 point win as we come into the final four games knowing we needed some results to ensure safety in the division for next season. Next up it is the final away trip of the season to Barton Town who are now just one point ahead in the table.

Matthew Brett