U11s v Wollaston Friday 28th August 2015
The final Friday of the season saw the Junior Cooks welcome local rivals back to Compton Park for the second U11 fixture between the two teams this season. The Cooks were looking to secure the double over their rivals.
Having lost the toss, Wollaston were invited to bat on the green strip prepared by Pete and Malc.
The Cooks bowlers made it hard for the Wollaston batsmen to score freely and the team all backed up the bowlers, with some excellent fielding. There were wickets for Jake [1], George [1] and Liam [2], plus a run out from some fine boundary fielding from George and some sharp work behind the stumps from Anya secured the second run out.
This meant Wollaston finished on 68-6, a net score of 38, leaving the Cooks a modest 39 to win.
After a quick drinks break, with the late August evening beginning to draw in, the opening pair of Sam and Prasil made their way to the crease. Scorer Ben had had difficulty identifying some of the Wollaston batsmen, but no such difficulty with the little and large combo of Sam and Prasil.
Sam hit some great fours during his innings and Prasil held out well after being hit first ball by the quick bowler, but having been bowled and then run out needlessly, the Cooks were 25-2 [net 15] after the first pair had batted.
George and Alex were glad to see the number of wides increase as they took the score onto 43-4 [net 23] at the halfway point. Similarly, Anya and Aidan saw the extras contributing as they lost two wickets, taking the overall score to 56-6 [net 26]. With the final pair of Liam and Jake needing 13 to win, they remained unbeaten and then defended the last two overs to seal the win by one run [although on countback, scorer Ben discovered four byes he had missed, so we won by more!].
It was a good performance from the team, some of whom will be too old to play next season.
Thanks once again to Alan for umpiring and Ben for scoring, plus all of the supporters who came to watch. Keep practising during the winter!
NOTE: The photo shows 2016 as it will be used on the club magnetic calendars NEXT year!