ECB U19 Club T20 Surrey NatWest U19 T20 – Group D
Stoke Slayers 131 for 7 (20 overs)
Valley End Blues 132 for 3 (19.5 overs)
Valley End won by 7 wickets
A tremendous advert for the new ECB Under Club T20 Blast as old friends Stoke and Valley End put on a great show. In the end, Stoke were left to rue a cruel bounce off the outfield off the penultimate ball. This was a game of narrow margins.
Stoke were still missing a few of what could have been their first choice XI, but showed their strength in depth in all departments as James Trower won the toss and chose to bat on a warm evening.
Valley End opted for the tactic of trying to steal a cheap over of spin with the new ball, but it yielded twelve runs as a number of wides were conceded.
The next eight overs were shared by Adams and Turner; Adams, (4-0-24-2), took the first two wickets as Ollie John perished trying to clear the circle of fielders, then Baz Medlycott, (16 with three cleanly hit fours), was bowled. The scoring rate was healthy as more wides boosted the total to 57 by the end of the ninth over. Stoke won the extras battle and only bowled six wides during their fielding effort.
The innings was ticking over nicely as Trower and Alastair Curran ran well – they had to as the Valley End captain Vernon found some good ways to restrict boundaries – and the pair added 61 in 8.1 overs, Curran eventually falling to Vernon for 32 from 30 balls faced with five fours.
Trower continued to run well – his 31 from 35 balls was made up of one four, one three, one two and 22 singles. He was caught with the total on 114 to give Vernon, (4-0-15-3), the best figures of the match.
Debutant Shane Thompson hit the match’s only six in a cameo of ten, but was one of many who suffered trying to hit boundaries when nurdling & aggressive running might have been better in hindsight. Only 31 runs were scored in the last five overs, a period of play that started with seven wickets in hand.
Thompson, Michael Dolman and Giacomo Gray unselfishly gave up their wickets in the pursuit of quick runs. Keegan Weideman clubbed the only boundary secured in the last three overs to close the innings on 131 for 7.
In reply Ben Holder and Weideman struck in their opening overs. Holder bowled Clark behind his legs and Weideman surprised Hetherington with a straight one after two wides.
Holder continued to lock an end down as Chauhan and Vernon looked to keep up with the asking rate. Vernon became Holder’s second victim when he hit to Weideman at mid-off. Holder bowled his four over allocation in one spell, conceding 21 runs.
32 for 3 and Stoke were in the game, but Valley End had two very capable players at the wicket in Chauhan and keeper Watt.
The pair kept the board ticking and the asking rate never got above eight per over as they ran well, picking up the requisite number of runs without risking the big shot.
All the Stoke change bowlers bowled well, notably Billy Zander, (4-0-24-0), and Medlycott, (4-0-21-0), but the crucial wicket proved elusive.
When the equation meant that a bowler had to be targeted, Paddy Wilson was the unfortunate one to be in the firing line, but it was great to see him back in Stoke colours once again. Thompson and Weideman shared the closing overs – 26 were required from the last 18 balls.
Chauhan became more expansive and completed his half-century off the second ball of the penultimate over and was forced – by rule – to retire. From a Stoke point of view it was hoped that a new batsman might struggle to get the pace of the game immediately, but Adams was fluent from the off and left Thompson with just eight runs to defend from the last over.
To his credit Thompson did well and we hope to see him in a Stoke shirt more regularly. He forced three swings and misses off the first three balls and the fourth was hit for four over cover. The field was changed and the fifth ball went the dame direction to the newly positioned fielder, but this time the ball took a horrible kick off the end of the square, nearly took said fielder’s head off, and raced to the boundary to complete the win.
This was T20 cricket of the highest quality and was witnessed by number of senior Stoke players, notably Rod Thomson, Malcolm Dickson, Greg Routley, Ian Hopton and Shahil Ramdin; and a healthy sprinkling of parents. Thanks to Keith Medlycott for umpiring at short notice and to Andrew & Sarah Trower and Rob Gray for running the BBQ.
Beaten, but with nothing to be despondent about, Stoke have an immediate chance to bounce back when they travel to Normandy for their second game in two days. Remember that this Stoke XI is a very young side – project this team forward a couple of years and there is a genuine chance to go deep in this tournament format.
Scorecard Link : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/view_results_details?id=12026380
Table Link : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/league_table?id=10067630&season_id=72