Gresford Under 11's Vs H Park

Gresford Vs Hawarden

Home game, return fixture, could Gresford find a way to win?

Setting the tone for the Gresford team Ben took the new ball in hand bowling the first over of the game, starting nicely and crucially no extras bowled Ben found his demon line and length from the off. His second over continued in the same fashion as Ben hit the mark time and time again in an extremely positive spell that saw little joy for the batting team. Downing the ball Ben then padded up and took centre stage behind the stumps doing a magnificent job once again.

The evening was going to be tough as Hawarden had turned up to play. Christian was handed the new ball for the next Gresford spell. After a few balls to find his rhythm Christian accelerated both his pace and accuracy beginning to pose questions for the batsmen. Saving his best till last Christian’s second over was a cracker taking Gresford’s first wicket of the game and just one of 2 in the match. Another top spell of bowling that kept Gresford fighting for the upper hand in a high scoring game.

Hawarden looked good, reaching the 240 mark from 4 overs, Gresford needed to halt this ever accelerating run rate.

First appearance of the season Oliver looked to combat the confident batting display with some fast bowling. His first over saw the Hawarden boys struggle to get the ball away, frustrating the batting team Oliver made sure he stayed calm under pressure and executed his plan with precision. His final over of the evening was his best, settling in to his bowling zone Oliver bowled just the one extra pushing the pressure back onto the batting side.

Looking at home on the cricket pitch Sam marked out his run up as he had done time and time again at Gresford. Directing the speed and power of his run up towards the popping crease Sam charged in on an all-out assault on the wickets, a strong first over set up his second well. Causing problems for the batsmen throughout Sam searched for that illusive wicket. BANG Ball 3 Sam got his reward sending top of off flying, a well-deserved wicket from what was a superb spell of bowling.

The runs continued to increase and despite Gresford’s good bowling the score had crept up to 276 from 8.

Impressing with the ball in yet another appearance Jess sought to add extra pressure to the batting team. In what might be her best bowling spell of the season Jess managed to tie down 2 very capable batsmen in two outstanding overs. Bowling tricky Yorkers attacking middle stump saw the ball squeezed into the outfield with no real conviction. Sucking the runs dry and with no extra bowled in her second over Jess ended her spell on another high.

Bowler number 6 this evening James knew what needed to be done with the ball. Restricting the flow of runs was key at this stage and after carefully changing the field James was off. Bowling a good line James stuck to his guns as the batsmen picked out fielder after fielder. Backing himself James settled into 2 solid overs of line and length bowling making it easy for the captain to set an attacking field. Dotting up this scorecard saw James and Gresford take another step in reducing the target.

Next bowler faced up against some attacking batting, Siddant was tasked with the job of holding up an end for his 2 over spell. Over number one and Sid did exactly that, with just one run off the bat Sid used his pace well bouncing the ball past the bat and into Ben’s hands over and over again. Over number two saw a fantastic battle between bowler and batsmen. Superb batting followed by intelligent bowling as Sid responded to being hit for a 4 with a dot ball time and time again.

Last up to bowl after swapping wicket keeping for bowling was the ever talented Josh T, picking up the old ball Josh looked to use it to his advantage, targeting off stump he got to work. His first over was the best of the game, with just 2 runs scored off the bat and no extras bowled. His second over was the last of the game a tricky job for any player but Josh took to it well, restricting the batsmen from reaching the next land mark of 350. Fantastic 2 over spell which helped Gresford in their quest for a win.

Despite Gresford’s best efforts                 Hawarden managed to pull away to a strong 337 for 2.

Gresford had a lot to do and with that Sid and James started the innings off. The pair built up a great relationship in their 4 overs, scoring 9 runs but crucially not losing a wicket. James got forward and played on the front foot for the majority of his time at the crease, picking up the quick single meant the scoreboard kept rotating a healthy position to be in. Siddant also found success in nudging the ball for the quick singles. Differing only in that his strongest shot was off the back foot, transferring his weight rocking back and finding the gaps.

To build on what was a stable foundation Josh and Oliver padded up for their crack at the ball. Feeling there was into the game the pair first had to see off some accurate quick bowling and did so remarkably well. After surviving a bombardment of off stump bowling Josh took advantage of the next few overs, with the looser ball being bowled Josh struck down on top sending the ball racing over the boundary line for Gresford’s first 4 of the day. Oliver made sure he contributed to the innings, finding joy on the leg side Oliver punishing the wide bowling adding ones and twos to his and the Gresford score a clever tactic indeed.

8 overs down and Gresford were hanging in, a remarkable effort from the top 4 saw Gresford move to 225.

With the door slightly ajar Jess and Sam needed to continue the positive mood Gresford was in. Sam started the innings off with some textbook defensive work taking care of some quite dangerous bowling. This then progressed into runs adding speedy 1s and energetic 2s to the scorecard. Jess played her role in the match well doing what was needed at the time making sure that her stumps stayed intact.  Again seizing on the opportunity when the wider ball came to sneak in a tip and run using her game awareness well.

Last pairing Ben and Christian set off a few fireworks to finish Gresford’s evening on a high. Ben as per usual moved extremely well in his crease turned good balls into bad positioning himself to hit into the gaps. This churned out 16 fantastic runs 3 of which were 4s. Christian kept up with the exciting batting at the other end and took every chance he had to push the run rate up, some positive batting resulting in two 4s of his own finishing his innings in double figures also.

Superb effort from all the team saw Gresford post 247 in reply to an extremely high batting score. Positives to take from this one include the fact we only lost 3 wickets our second lowest of the season and against some strong bowling. Every one batted and bowled well, we were just second best on the night.

Role on next week!

Player of the match- Christian after a solid start with the ball bagging the first wicket of the game, Christian looked to continue in a positive way for the rest of the game. Batting was excellent pushing the run rate up and scoring some 4s in the process well done.