Week 30 Sports Report

U12Bs v Davenies (Lost by 2 wickets)

The Beacon were put into bat first on a sunny afternoon at Penn Street. The boys got off to a quick start with Theo H hitting 12 off 15 in the opening overs and Finley W running some quick singles. In at three came Benji G, who knocked the ball around the park with true style and an array of well-timed shots. The scoreboard kept ticking over with further runs from Edward F and Finley F. The bottom order, however, struggled to score runs off a slow wicket and The Beacon ended the twenty overs with 77 runs.

Early pressure was applied to Davenies with some excellent bowling from Eeshan K and Jahnu M, who gave the boys a glimmer of hope going in to the second innings. To add to this, Lazlo B and Aiden C took important wickets to help keep the boys on track for victory. Despite low scoring overs from Angus B and Berik I, the boys were unable to stop Davenies from reaching the required run total after 17 overs and lost by 2 wickets. The man of the match went to Benji G who took two wickets himself and hit 15 runs. Well done!!

Reported by Mr Stansfield 

Colts Ds Vs Davenies 

On Wednesday afternoon, the Colts Ds played Davenies, who won the toss and elected to bat first. Our bowling was impressive, and we kept our extras below 20, while getting a total of 38 dot balls. Hugo S did particularly well with 8 dot balls from his 9 bowled and the collective effort in the field also led to four run outs.

So, we were chasing 72 to win and from the start, we got ahead of the run rate and each pair kept the runs coming. There was some impressive batting and running between the wickets from Thomas S, Emilio T and our captain for the day, Karanveer D. But the batting performance of the day went to Benny G who smashed 28 runs from his two overs, which included two 6’s and two 4’s in a row.

Well done, boys.

Reported by Mr Powell

Beacon 1st XI v Davenies

A remarkable game of cricket played on Willsfield yesterday. The game ebbed and flowed until The Beacon finally seized the moment in the penultimate over of the game to win by a solitary wicket. Bowling first, we got off to a great start. Both Davenies openers were back in the hutch by the end of the first three overs. 4 for 2 quickly became 11 for 3 and then 21 for 4. There were 3 wickets for Dino J and one for Logan G. Logan’s was courtesy of a catch by Alex T. With a grace more commonly associated with a gazelle, Alex bounded across the green sward and plucked the ball out of the sky with an ease that completely belied the difficulty of the catch.

Perhaps giddy on this early success, our boys then took their foot off the pedal. A 40 run partnership started to give the Davenies total an air of respectability. This was broken by Kishan P but then another 25 run partnership looked like the game could be getting away from us. Wickets fell at regular intervals but the runs kept coming. Charlie C struck with a missile of a ball that zeroed in on the top of off stump. Kishan picked up two further wickets, finishing on 3 for 17, while Xander B struck too. His wicket was the result of another fine catch. The ball was skied to midwicket where Jackson R twirled and whirled his way beneath it. With the ball dropping over his shoulder he dived and clutched it before hitting the ground. All that was missing was a red cape…

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of good fielding. Hands might sting and whites might muddy but there is nothing a batter hates more than seeing good strokes result in no runs. Despite two very good catches, fielding still left a little to be desired. Davenies finished on 119 for 9 off 25 overs. As I told the boys at tea it was alright but we should not be content with just alright as a playing standard…

Our innings got off in a similar vein to the Davenies one. It was shaky to say the least. Elliot R could not repeat the heroics of last week, Dino J was triggered leg before by the other umpire and in a mix up of Laurel and Hardy proportions Charlie C got run out. At 17 for 3, a winning target of 120 seemed a long way off. While all this was going on Logan G was being very cucumber like and seemed unperturbed by it all.

With Henry L joining him at the crease, the pair started playing fluently yet patiently. Good balls were met with stout defence but anything wayward was clipped away. Henry fell for 15 vital runs and further batters came and went, though Logan just kept hitting the bad balls and blocking the good ones. By the time Rory OS joined Logan at the crease we still needed about 20 runs with 9 wickets gone.

But Rory is a far better batter than he gives himself credit for. Like a limpet he clung around at the crease and so – as Elvis nearly sang – it was now or never.  Logan began to unfurl an array of attacking shots. A 4 was cut to the boundary, a 6 flew over long on (and brought up his 50) before another 4 was pulled over midwicket.  In the following over, Rory struck a 4 of his own to see The Beacon home and his 6 not out could well have been 60 such was the difference to the result his innings made. Of course, It was Logan’s knock of 57 not out that deserves special acclaim.

It had been a great match. It was one of those schoolboy games when it is lovely to say at the conclusion that the real winner was sport itself. This is true – but that is easier to say when it’s your team that has actually won!!!

Reported by Mr Williams 

Under 8B Vs Davenies 

In conditions that were better suited to waterskiing, the U8B’s enjoyed a comfortable win over Davenies on Thursday. Despite the rain nothing could dampen the ardour of our boys as they batted with gusto, fielded with venom and bowled with precision. Most boys this age can hit a ball, but it has been the bowling of our lads that has stood out so far this season and it certainly made the difference to the result. They have worked really hard on it and deserve all the plaudits that they receive. Particularly good bowling in the match came from Ben G, Hendrix K and George R. We won  by around 30 runs. (I can’t say exactly as my score card is still soggy and difficult to read…) Well done all.

Team – Aaron F, Maxim M, Austin B, Ben G, Hendrix K, George R, Bertie H, Aman P , Kian S and Peter C.

Reported by Mr Williams