Tadworth Cricket Club
Young Cricketers (COLTS)

With much of the UK under water following one of the wettest June’s on record, The Tadworth Tigers dodged the showers to play a Twenty20 match against local rivals Ashtead. Leon won his first toss since way back in mid May and asked Ashtead to put their pads on and have a bat.

MJ and Alex opened the bowling and the batmen’s good early work was undone in the third over when MJ took the wicket of Ashtead opener Tom twice. The first ball was skied and the catch was brilliantly taken by Alex, he was then bowled by the final ball of what would have been a double wicket maiden other than for a solitary single. After four overs the score was 200/2.

Leon replaced MJ from the Surrey End, and after Alex bowled a third over, Dean replaced him. This was Ashtead’s most productive partnership, they did not lose a wicket and hit three 4’s on their way to adding 23 to the total, Tim making 15 not out.  As the third pair walked to the crease the score had moved on to 223/2.

Ben replaced Leon and as has happened so often this season, made an instant impact. The spin king took two wickets in his first over without conceding a run and turned the game the Tigers way. Both batsmen were fooled into thinking that because he doesn’t charge in let it go at pace that they can go after him, only to be fooled by the flight and pop easy catches up to the infield. His tally this season of 9 wickets from 18 overs for just 53 runs is one that any cricketer on the planet would be proud of. Dean continued from the London End and took a wicket with the third ball of his second over having Glen caught by Ben at slip, Max replaced him to complete the 12^th over at which point Ashtead had reached 218/5.

Ben and Max continued to bowl tightly at the next pair and were replaced by James and Eddy. Only one wicket fell during this pairs stay at the wicket when Edward was brilliantly run out by Max off the bowling of James. The batsman clipped the ball down towards third man and set off for what appeared to be an easy single only for Max to gather the ball and throw down the stumps before the non striker could get home. As the final pair prepared to take strike the Ashtead score had moved on to 219/6.

Bradley took over from James at the Surrey End and continued his excellent bowling form this season. He took two wickets, both bowled, took his total for the season to five wickets from six overs for just 28 runs. Eddy continued and bowled through. He took two wickets in his three overs for just five runs. One clean bowled, the other caught by the ever impressive William behind the stumps. His bowling has been one of the major plusses this season and especially his ability to contain batsmen and take wickets at the end of this innings. Harvey took over from Bradley at the London End and took his first wicket of the season having Sam R well caught by Alex at silly point. Five wickets fell in the last four overs as the Tigers took total control of the match. Ashtead closed their innings on 203/11.

End of Innings
Tadworth made excellent progress through the first 12 overs of their innings adding 60 runs without losing a wicket. The bowling was a little wayward, a number of extras were conceded during this period but take nothing away from the batsmen who still had to keep out some very good bowling. This said, as the Tigers penultimate pair made their way to the wicket the score, chasing 204 for victory, was 260/0.

Alex and Eddy have formed an excellent batting partnership this season and with license to play their shots, it would continue. Alex has often been the dominant partner, but this evening it was Eddy’s turn to shine. He made 17 not out, his highest score of the season, off just 13 balls and add to that 12 from Alex, despite losing a wicket, and the pair took the Tigers score on to an unassailable 290/1.

Ashtead saved their best bowlers until the end. Little did they know though who they were coming up against. MJ and William have been outstanding this season and that wasn’t about to change. MJ dominated the partnership. His 26 not out from just 13 balls included three 4’s and one massive six. William, unlucky to be out twice during his innings going for big shots, still managed to score nine runs off the bat and his running between the wickets was again outstanding. At the end of the innings and the match Tadworth had reached 315/3.

Summary
Another well deserved victory for the Tigers. It may not have been Ashtead's strongest team, but you can only play the opposition that are put in front of you. The clinical way which we won this match shows just how far we have come in a short space of time. Unbeaten now in almost two months and with five victories in succession we are now a major force in the league. Whether or not we progress to the finals might depend more on the weather than anything else at the moment.


Man of the Match (MOTM)
But for some notable individual performances this season Michael James might just have a mantle piece full of MOTM) awards. His contributions this season, often when the team needed them the most, have been nothing short of outstanding. His 26 not out made from just 13 balls, his two wickets for three runs and some great work in the field meant that without doubt he was this weeks Man of the Match.

Special mentions also to Eddy who on any other day deserved to be MOTM. 17 not out off just 13 balls and two wickets for two runs off three overs was also a great performance eclipsed only by MJ. Ben's bowling was yet again of the highest class. James and Leon at the top of the batting order again stood firm which is so important to the rest of the batsmen. And Finally Harvey and Bradley deserve a mention, despite spending much of the season on the subs bench, they both played today and made good contributions with both bat and ball.

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