| Match Report |
Gresford Vs Chirk/Bersham Another away day for Gresfords up and coming stars. Chirk and Bersham had joined forces for the season making for an interesting match up. As rules dictate Gresford arrived and as the away team were put into bat first. The emphasis of today’s game being that of keep the loss of wickets to a minimum. James and Gus were the opening partnership for Gresford, and with those words ringing in there ears they set about their work. Partners in crime mirrored one another’s stunning batting performance confidently dominating the crease line. Mr Cook scored quickly dominating on the leg side shocking the fielders into action. Tying together a well thought out innings of batting James saw himself reach a total of 6 runs. Gus played to the same tune using the ball and working with the pace to send missiles into the outfield. Once again perfecting the masterclass of chasing the wide ball and playing sensible when straight. Clever and intuitive batting saw Gresford make one of there best starts to an innings yet, 213 runs with no loss of wicket. Well Done boys. Best of friends Josh Tifase and Christian stepped into the lime light next. After such a promising start the boys were eager to get bat on ball. T20 batting saw Josh get off to a dominating start, 3rd ball of the innings Whack! 4 runs yes please! Continuing the onslaught Josh danced around his crease positioning himself to unleash havoc resulting in a top score of the day 11 runs. Christian reacted in the best way possible to his partner down the other end and came out with some energetic shots of his own. Finding the target pinging the ball around allowing the runs to flow with ease. The pair had built on the great platform provided from the openers as Gresford moved onto 235 for 1. The noise on the side drifted towards the crease as an excitable Ben and Sid entered the game for the first time this evening. Looking to imprint his mark on proceedings Ben took strike first. Playing the waiting game Mr Pold set about getting his eye in, beginning steady taking the quick single Ben built into an all out aerial assault as he punctured the infield with some classy shots. Not wanting to be left out Sid swung his bat with aggression at the crease, cracking the ball into the ground spraying off as the fielders made chase. Wanting more Sid continued in this vein for the rest of the innings. Strong start, outstanding batting, good calling Gresford 250 for 2. Debutant Jess Jones shared her innings with Sam R, assisting each other the pair built up a successful innings full of technical batting. Sam faced first and relaxed into a reactive state, everything that was bowled Mr Richardson had an answer for, one shot two shots three shots all in a blur as destructives batting pierced the field once more. Jess watched and ready to make an impact herself, first ever hard ball game you would have to ask to find that out as confidence oozed out from the bat. Get forward and play saw Jess score her first hard ball runs with a rather magnificent front foot drive. Well Done! 260 for 3 ensured Gresford stayed on the front foot. Finishing off the innings today was non other than Ranija A and Joe F. The pair freed the bat from its shackles instantaneously as they continued the forward momentum gathered by those before them. Ranija played off the back foot for most of the innings thundering the ball which I’m sure could be heard back in Gresford over the boundary line to get his Gresford campaign going. Loud calling assisted the seasoned Pro as he strung together an impressive map of shots. Joe F helped the team and his partner to a strong finish, leaning over the ball playing safe but effective shots rotated the strike time and time again a real mature decision to make! Keeping the runs ticking using tactical batting knowledge seen by those wearing an England Cricket shirt. The finishing total totted up to 270 for 4 wickets. Highest score of the season so far, but it still needed to be protected. Begin the bowling performance! Josh downed the gloves for the day and showed his talents with the ball and Ben P took over. Bowling for the first time this season in a match Josh was keen to set about his work. Over number one was completed in a blink of the eye as Josh powered through sending the ball down the other end with real meaning. His second over faired the same fait bowling just the one run in his two overs and runs only totting up to 4 from the bat propelled Gresford forward. Taking over the new ball Sam saw his opportunity to add another chapter to Gresfords performance, shaving the off stump multiple times Sam came close to another wicket for the season, but it wasn’t to be. Figures made for good reading as not a single run was scored from the bat, its not always about taking wickets, pile the pressure on the batsmen and they will eventually come. Another outstanding bowling performance. With continuous pressure comes a team reward, que Christian 2nd ball in and hey presto the first wicket of the match. The repetition of off sided bowling and high pressure fielding allowed Christian to get Gresfords first wicket of the day. That wasn’t good enough for Christian though as he wanted more over number two allowed that to happen, another well times wicket making for a excellent spell of bowling. Determination and skillful bowling well done! James Cook took on the 4th spell of the game the youngster wasn’t going to let Chirk off lightly either as he marked out his run up with precision. Over number one completed James’ line was flawless peppering the off stump gave the batsmen only one choice block or get out, exactly what the team needed to continue to build up the PRESSURE. James second over was linked up with dots again seeing the batsmen score just 1 run from two overs of hard work, terrific lines, fantastic lengths and perfect speeds. Jess Jones gave her all in the two overs bowled, no need for a few warm up balls as she found her line and length with ease. With the teams backing Jess grew into the game as the ball started to find its way past the Chirk bat. By round 2 Jess had figured out a great way to take wickets and did just that, wicket after wicket fell in Jess’ second over as she glided her way to the crease bowling in hard to hit areas time and time again. This made for an amazing second over including 3 wickets WOW! Looking to continue his good day at the office Joe looked for more Gresford success. Sticking to good bowling lines Joe struck gold first ball as he took yet another wicket to add to Gresfords sheet. Settling straight back into his work Joe was rewarded again just 4 balls later, a ball moving off the seam was to much for the batsmen as they played around the ball. Joe’s work with the ball wasn’t complete yet though as his second over was still to come, and boy was it worth waiting for sneaking another wicket onto his spell Joe’s figures made for good reading 2 overs 0 runs from the bat. After a long wait in the field Gus stepped into the frame for the first time, and he kept the ball rolling for Gresford. His first over was the pick of the bunch as solid areas bowled added 2 more wickets to Gresfords growing wicket list. Finding joy outside the off stump Gus set up camp bowling a consistent line throughout the innings. This was echoed in his second over where despite not picking up another wicket Gus made sure that the batsmen were not going to score a run off the bat, and in doing so kept Gresford in the lead. Siddant was the player selected for the 8th over, not an easy task waiting in the field to bowl for over half an hour, Sid adapted brilliantly keeping his body warm throughout made sure that from ball one Sid was hitting the money areas. The pace proved to much for the bat as the ball swung past the bat into the grateful hands of Ben. Over number one saw just the one run from the BAT, Sid had saved his best work for the penultimate over of the game a wicket maiden. Another impressive over In which the batting side struggled to get bat on ball. Last to start there bowling spell was the spin wizard Ranija, the left armer found the rough patch in front of the batsmen straightaway. The batting side looked bamboozled trying to figure out the spin of the ball as it pitched and spun past the edge of the bat. Another bowler who had saved his best till last, bowling the final over of the game Ranija really found his mark pitching two excellent off spinners beating the batsmen resulting in 2 wickets to add to the tally. Great win restricting chirk to 187 for 13 wickets Gresfords bowling performance was assisted with an excellent fielding performance led by Ben P from behind the stumps. The young wicket keeper made two excellent catches and was on his toes for the whole of the game answering all the question posed by the bowlers diving left then right to stop the ball in its tracks. Some spectacular catches in the outfield also made a difference to the score sheet adding another 4 wickets onto the tally. Another great performance in which the team are growing every game, player of the match was tough as per usual but edging it this week due to some productive effective batting and superb line and length bowling was Joe Fergus Well done.
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