Cup Dream Over For Exiles

Our final cup group game saw the 3s travel to Messingham in a winner-takes-all event for the semi-final spot.

We won the toss and batted first. Begley and Darryl opened but the much needed big opening partnership did not materialise as Darryl fell at the beginning of the second over. Hugo came to the crease and a decent 40 run partnership was built before Begley (12) fell in the 11th over. At just under four an over it was a good platform to push on for a good total. Kafait came and went for two which brought Louie to the crease on his 3s debut. A steady partnership took the score to 65 in the 18th over when Hugo (34) fell to a really good catch as he continued to try and push the run rate.
We were in a reasonable position for the final 12 overs but, apart from a few boundaries, the end of the innings stuttered with a constant fall of wickets. Louie (11) and Harry (12) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures as the score finished 108-9 from the 30 overs

Early wickets were the key to defend this total which seemed below par. Kafait did strike in his second to leave the score 10-1 from three overs. Unfortunately this was the only wicket taken as the two experienced batsman took advantage of any space and boundary protection to pick up the runs and slowly tick them off. Six bowlers were used in total but there no more success as Messingham reached the score in the 25th over.

The cup run was over but a good effort throughout from three teams which contained plenty of youngsters. Given it was a effectively a quarter final it was a disappointing way to end but a valuable lesson into picking up runs consistently and working the ball around in chasing a relatively low score.

Next week we return to the league where we host Nettleham 2s up at the Barracks.

Report by Matthew Brett