| Match Report |
Sparsholt U9 'small trees' travelled to Andover where they participated in an excellent game of cricket on a beautiful sunny morning in Middle Hampshire. Captain for the day, Oliver Steven, competed hard to win the toss and decided to put Andover into bat. With all 8 players required to bowl 2 overs each, Sparsholt kept the extras down and gave nothing away in the field. Two wickets in his opening over from Tom Bentley disrupted Andovers opening pair, while later in the match Bertie Lander did the same to the final Andover pair. Mack Farren-Price joined the wicket takers with a straight ball that pitched perfectly onto middle stump, while Archie E-G behind the wicket got his just reward with an excellent run-out when he collected a firm throw from deep and removed the stumps. At the age, the boys' confidence in appealing for wickets is somewhat hesitant, but the outstretched hands and miming seemed to eventually win the umpire over. Set a target of 257/6, Sparsholt got off to a strong start with the opening pair of Thomas Bentley and Nicholas Bannister making a solid 25, and Thomas knocking off 4 boundaries with some superb cover drives. Bertie Lander and Mack Farren-Price maintained the momentum and ran between the wickets well, before Bertie's appetite for the big shot saw him caught very well at Deep Square-Leg. Making his debut, Sam Wolfe-Barry hit the ball well and was in no way phased facing Anodover's tronger bowlers, while Oliver Steven guided Sam well, and hit a couple of boundaries in only his second game for Sparsholt. The final pair of Arthur Molden and Archie E-G batted very well to guide Sparsholt safely over the line, with each competing for the honours of most flourishing drive into the covers. While Archie had the run of the strike and just outscored Arthur, Arthur was able to say he carried his bat as Archie let one ball slip thorugh his guard in the final over. 336/2 vs 257/6, a win by 79 runs for Sparsholt.
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