On a bitterly cold evening, (someone please let us know where summer has gone???) Wythenshawe CC U15s hosted Whalley Range Eagles, Eagles won the toss & elected to bat.
I. Ashfaq giving WR a decent start scoring 31, bowled by Heetain Arora, M. Dayan also getting into double figures with 25, bowled Oliver Roddy, caught Morgan Platt. A much improved bowling & fielding performance from Wythenshawe, saw Morgan picking up 2 wickets & 1 wicket a piece from Tom Curtis, Heetain, Oliver, Dylan Hughes & Taahaa Anwar.
Wythenshawe were more than happy in restricting Eagles to under 100, as they finished on 98/7 off 20.
Wythenshawe requiring 99 to win, got off to a stumbling start, losing 5 wickets in 21 runs, stability resumed when Morgan Platt joined Alfie Walker to take up the gauntlet, determined to pull the match back into contention.
Alfie once again playing some lovely controlled shots and Morgan grafting away solidly to bring the run rate back up, before Alfie lost his wicket on 15 runs, a couple of quick wickets lost & out came Oliver Roddy, taking up a brilliant partnership with Morgan, both playing with grit, determination & flair, the target required started to look within reach, before Morgan was judged LBW on a very creditable & hard fought 15 runs, Oliver went on to finish the innings partnered with Vikash Kumar (5 not out) Oliver scoring a brilliant 23 not out, Wythenshawe falling short by just 10 runs, with 88/7.
Credit to both teams tonight, on an exciting & well matched contest, both teams stepping up from the friendly league and holding their own in the competitive division.
Thank you to Brian for covering the running of the match, Sam for umpiring & Jeannie for scoring.
Well done to Whalley Range Eagles on their 1st league win & well played to all the boys tonight, a great game to watch (even if it felt more like October than July!!!)
Report/Photos: Tracy Bailey