Match Report - Tranmere Victoria (away) Sun 8 June

Conditions: Dry, breezy and sunny

This was the Oxton lads' first visit to Tranmere Victoria and despite a few last minute changes to the line-up, we managed to field a strong team.

Captain Jack B won the toss and chose to field first and was rewarded as the Oxton bowlers continued their good recent form. Assisted by a helpful breeze and some solid wicketkeeping (only 3 byes past Louis/Max in the innings), restricted the Victoria batsmen's scoring chances. The plan of switching Dhruv and Harry so that the latter bowled down the slope turned out to be a tactical masterstroke, and also earned Raghuram (who bowled the fill-in over) the first wicket. Replacing Harry down the slope, Tom G then hit his best form of the season, picking up 3 wickets in 3 overs for as many runs (all wides). From a position of 24-5 after 11 overs, batsman Ethan managed to steady the ship a little and then, with a 10 over partnership with Ricky, managed to stop the clatter of wickets. Runs however were very hard to come by as Oxton continued to bowl tightly, and Victoria ended the 25 overs on 63-7.

Although chasing a modest target, the Oxton top order managed to tangle themselves in knots, and a few ill-judged swipes across the line of a swinging ball inevitably resulted in leather against ash, leaving Oxton reeling on 12-4 off just four overs. With two wickets going in as many balls and the next batsman not even padded up, Max took responsibility and strode out to provide Jack B some much-needed support. With some nicely timed shots and quick running, the pair gradually restored the innings and put on 30 runs off 8 overs, benefitting also from a large cache of byes, wides and no-balls. When Max was eventually bowled with the score at 42-5, there was still danger. Fortunately Ben B-J was in great form with some great defensive shots against the better balls and adding 8 precious runs in the process, getting to within 2 runs of the target before eventually being bowled. Louis came in to help Captain Jack, who had batted through the innings, reach the 64 runs required for victory, off 15.5 overs.

So despite a panicky top order, a good enough response from the middle order to preserve Oxton's 100% record.

And a special word of thanks to a very welcoming and hospitable Tranmere Victoria, who supported and encouraged the lads from both teams and who laid on drinks and hot-dogs for the Oxton boys. The Spirit of Cricket at its best.

Result

Oxton win by 4 wickets

Scorecard

Tranmere Victoria 63 for 7 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Rees B	b Harry	12	16	75		2
MattyW	b Raghuram	1	8	13
Ethan B	not out	19	61	31		1
Charlie C	c Dhruv b Tom G	0	9
Tom M	b Tom G	1	9	11
DillonK	c Jack B b Tom G	0	2
Shaun H	b Sam P	3	13	23
Ricky P	b Sam P	13	29	45
Niall W	not out	0	4
Extras	10w 1nb 3b	14
Total	for 7	63	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	13	0	3.25		14	Matty
Harry D	3	10	1	3.33		16	Rees B
Raghuram	4	12	1	3.0		16	Charlie C
Tom G	4	3	3	0.75		23	Tom M
Jack B	4	12	1	3.0		23	Dillon K
Sam P	4	8	2	2.0		32	Shaun K
Jacob	2	5	0	2.5		63	Ricky P

Oxton 64 for 6 (15.5 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	not out	14	49	29
Tom G	b Shaun H	2	4	50
Raghuram	b Shaun H	0	5
Sam P	b Liam B	4	2	200		11
Harry D	b Liam B	0	1
Max	b Matty W	6	19	32
BenB-J	b Liam B	8	14	57
Louis	not out	1	1	100	1
Extras	7w 6nb 13b 3lb	29
Total	for 6	64	(15.5 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Shaun H	4	14	2	3.5		7	Tom G
Liam B	3.5	19	3	4.96		7	Raghuram
Charlie C	2	8	0	4.0		12	Sam P
Ethan B	2	4	0	2.0		12	Harry D
Niall W	2	8	0	4.0		42	Max
Matty W	2	11	1	5.5		62	BenB-J

Worm graph for match

Match report - New Brighton (away) Sun 01 June

An 'exciting' start to the day, as the team arrived at New Brighton's main Mortuary Road ground for warm ups, only to find there was no opposition! A couple of phone calls revealed the fact that the venue had secretly been changed and so we set off in convoy for the Wayfarers Ground in Bidston. Unfortunately we arrived to find only 9/11ths of a New Brighton side, but the Oxton lads were happy to make up the numbers in order to hone their fielding skills.

Winning the toss, Oxton elected to bat. With an outfield resembling a hay meadow, reaching the boundary overland was always going to be a challenge. Jack B and Tom G opened with some nice shots, but failed to build on a promising start, paving the way for Jack C, Ed and Harry to inflict some damage on the mid-wicket boundary, opting for the aerial route and scoring four 6s along the way. Jack C eventually retired on 35 (narrowly outscoring New Brighton extras on 34), with Harry also contributing a valuable 20 runs. The final third of the innings saw Max, Chris, Louis, Ben T and Luke move the score onto a respectable looking total of 125-7 off their 25 overs.

New Brighton's response ran into immediate difficulties in the first over as Dhruv clean bowled the opener second ball, and had #3 caught by Harry off the final ball of the over. Supported by incredibly stingy bowling by Ed at the other end, who allowed only one solitary run off his three overs, the game was effectively over by the time Harry and Tom G came on as first change. Jacks B and C then inflicted further damage, and although the New Brighton tail wagged briefly, Luke and Chris came on to finish off the innings just inside the allotted 25 overs, skittling them out for 63.

So, 3 wins out of three continues a perfect start to the 2014 season. Keep going lads!

Result

Oxton win by 62 runs

Scorecard

Oxton 125 for 7 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	c Will T b Tom D	7	8	88
Tom G	b Tom D	4	21	19
Jack C	Retired	35	33	106	3
Ed T	b Keiran	6	10	60		1
Harry	Run out	20	30	67	1	1
Max	b Charlie	1	11	9
Chris F	Run out	1	1	100
Louis	c Adam b Will A	8	8	100	1
Ben T	not out	8	26	31
Luke C	not out	1	3	33
Extras	21w 6n 7b	34
Total	for 7	125	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Adam	3	16	0	5.33		8	Jack B
Arran	4	20	0	5.0		32	Tom G
Charlie	4	19	1	4.75		41	Ed T
Keiran	4	21	1	5.25		98	Harry D
Nathan	3	17	0	5.67		99	Max
Tom D	4	13	2	3.25		107	Chris F
Will A	1	5	1	5.0		112	Louis
Will G	2	14	0	7.0

New Brightton 63 for 8 (all out, 24.4 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Will A	b Dhruv	0	2
Adam	c Jack C b Dhruv	1	2	50
Keiran	b Dhruv	0	6
Tom D	c Jack B b Harry	0	16
Arran	b Jack B	6	63	10
Will G	b Jack C	11	20	55		2
Charlie	c Harry b Luke	8	9	89		1
Will T	not out	12	12	100		2
Will T	b Tom G	4	5	80		1
Nathan	b Chris F	15	18	83		3
Extras	1w 7b 2lb	10
Total	for 8	63	(24.4 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Chris F	1.4	15	1	9.0		0	Will A
Dhruv	4.0	8	3	2.0		3	Adam
Ed T	3.0	1	0	0.33		7	Keiran
Harry D	3.0	6	1	2.0		10	Tom D
Jack B	4.0	3	1	0.75		26	Will G
Jack C	3.0	4	1	1.33		28	Arran
Luke C	3.0	18	1	6.0		46	Charlie
Tom G	3.0	8	0	2.67		63	Nathan

Worm graph for match