Under 13s at Preston Nomads

Winning the toss, Alfie chose to bat first - which might have gone better for him personally if he hadn't been caught in the second over.
Finley joined Felix at the crease and they were starting to build a good partnership until Finley was slow coming back for a second run and was run out - a shame considering two balls before he had hit a massive six into the next door field. James and Jacob added valuable runs while Felix retired after a classy 25. Enter Brad, shiny new bat in hand, to effortlessly score 25 off 11 balls, bookended with textbook cover drives for 4. Matt ran really well to take our score to 109 off the 18 overs being played. Respectable, but tough to defend with a fast outfield and against a team we know can bat deep.
We needed something to happen early on, and in the second over Alfie had their opener fishing outside off to be caught behind by Finley. Despite some fairly tight bowling, the next 8 overs passed with some good batting and running between the wicket giving Nomads the 6 runs per over they needed to stay in the game. Charlie then took a brilliant catch diving forward at mid off to break the partnership and that seemed to change the whole atmosphere on the pitch and give us some real belief. A couple of tight overs from Aidan kept up the pressure, and our energy and attitude in the field was better than ever before. Even so, after 13 overs they were 71-3, when we had been 72 for 3. The next couple of overs were vital - and where we had scored 23 in those overs, thanks to the best fielding ever seen from this group, Nomads could only add six and were starting to crack. One run out was followed by excellent bowling from Felix, pegging Nomads back, taking a couple of wickets and ramping up the pressure. Another catch at mid off by Charlie was followed by two more run outs in that same over, another one the following over and a fifth in the last over to have Nomads all out for 96.
When you can hear the parents of the opposing team talking about what a good fielding side we are, you know it's been a great team performance. Well done to all involved.