Match report - New Brighton (home) Sun 13 July

Conditions: Sunny and warm

After the first defeat of the season to Caldy last week, the Oxton lads welcomed back some of the regulars in their bid to return to winning ways. Up against them were a very strong first choice New Brighton team.

New Brighton batted first and off the very first ball, the opener feathered a catch to Max off the bowling of Dhruv. Further wickets soon followed and after just four overs, New Brighton were 3 wickets down. However, a solid partnership between L Botes and van Geffen soon restored parity, and big innings from o'Mahoney and S Botes saw New Brighton eventually race on to 142-6 off their allotted 25 overs.

In reply, Oxton soon discovered that they were up against some of the fastest bowling they had met this year, and despite brave attempts to hang in, the openers were both gone within 5 overs. Jack C was struck on the helmet and had to temporarily leave the field. Ben B-J and Raghurams tried to keep the innings going, but with the steady loss of wickets and the required run rate creeping ever upwards, Oxton faced a mountainous task. To their credit, they managed to bat out their 25 overs, but in truth they were well beaten by a very strong side. No disgrace. 

Result

New Brighton win by 37 runs

Scorecard

New Brighton 142 for 6 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
E Hughes	c Max V (wk) b Dhruv	0	1	-
A Power	b Jack C	1	5	20
M Southall	c Sam P b Jack C	10	9	11	1	1
L Botes	Retired not out	37	28	132	1	6
K van Geffen	b Jack B	12	21	57		2
E o'Mahoney	Retired not out	35	27	130	1	3
S Botes	not out	25	37	67		4
N Jones	c Jack B b Luke C	1	5	20
K Battersby	c Max V (wk) b Luke C	0	2	-
J Hibbs	not out	5	4	125		1
Extras		16
Total	for 6	142	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	16	1	4.0		0	E Hughes
Jack C	4	27	2	6.75		12	M Southall
Tom G	4	24	0	6.0		21	A Power
Jack B	4	20	1	5.0		85	K van Geffen
Harry D	4	23	0	5.75		127	N Jones
Luke C	4	14	2	3.5		127	K Battersby
Raghuram	1	8	0	8.0

Oxton 105 for 9 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	lbw S Botes	7	10	70		1
Tom G	c van Geffen b L Botes	4	13	31		1
Jack C	b Hepke	16	28	57	1	1
Sam P	b S Botes	5	8	63		1
Harry D	b E Hughes	9	13	69		2
Ben B-J	b J Hibbs	20	41	49		2
Ollie P	Run out	0	4
Raghuram	c Hibbs b Jones	12	24	50		1
Dhruv	not out	9	7	129		1
Max V	c Louis b ?	0	3
Luke C	not out	0	0
Extras		23
Total	for 9	105	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
L Botes	4	15	1	3.75		17	Jack B
S Botes	3	12	2	4.0		17	Tom G
E Hughes	4	5	1	1.25		?	Sam P
K van Geffen	3	17	0	5.67		?	Harry D
I Hepke	3	16	1	5.33		41	Ollie P
E o'Mahoney	3	7	0	2.33		66	Jack C
J Hibbs	3	17	2	5.67		93	Ben B-J
N Jones	2	4	1	2.0		98	Rughuram
Olly	2	7	1	3.5		?	Max V

Match Report - Caldy (home) Sun 6 July

Conditions: Sunny and warm

So a mega weekend of British sport (Tour de France in Yorkshire, Wimbledon men's final, British Grand Prix) was completed by the Oxton lads' first home game at Townfield Lane of the season, where they hosted Caldy. Confidence was high after last week's impressive victory at Neston, though with five of the Birkenhead School players missing, it was a somewhat new-look Oxton side at took to the field.

Caldy won the toss, and somewhat surprisingly, given the heavy layer of dew on the ground, elected to bat.

Dhruv and Tom G opened the bowling well and were soon rewarded with their first wicket when Tom found the outside edge and wicketkeeper Joe B snaffled the catch. The fielding however was very sloppy, with several catching opportunities being eschewed, and a number of runs being given away needlesely by lack of concentration and technique. And the Caldy runs continued to flow freely once the regular bowlers were replaced. Harry D was in good form however and bagged a pair of wickets, whilst keeping the runs down, with some good assistance from Ollie P. Nevertheless, Caldy's middle order made hay towwrds the end of the innings, completing their 25 overs on a formidable looking 146-5.

With the outfield drying up quickly, the run chase was always on, and the opening pair of Tom G and Ben BJ put on a very impressive stand, offering few chances and keeping the scoreboard ticking at nearly 5 an over. For the second week in a row, Tom was retired on 35 not out, a feat matched a few overs by Ben. Well done to both. Things at the other end however were not quite as rosy with two golden ducks and another cheap dismissal. Again, it was Harry D who had to provide the backbone of the resistance, and though never really managing to hit top gear, kept Oxton very much in the game. Support however was increasingly patchy and the run rate crept inexorably upwards. With a couple of dismissals near the end, the Oxton reply eventually fizzled out at 124-6, 23 short of the winning target.

So a first home game and a first defeat of the season. Some of the regulars undoubtedly missed, but this was a very lacklustre performance. Let's hope we're back to winning ways next week.

Result

Caldy win by 22 runs

Scorecard

Caldy 146 for 5 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Ewan	c Joe B (wk) b Tom G	4	1625			1
Joe T	c Tom G b Harry D	30	36	83		3
Jack	b Harry D	27	31	87	2	2
Eden	c Harry D b Joe B	11	15	73		1
Erron	Retired not out	37	24	154		8
James	b Ollie P	4	10	40
Joe B	not out	7	14	50		1
Bank [?]	not out	2	6	33		1
Extras	11w 7nb 4b 2lb	24
Total	for 5	146	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	20	0	5.0		11	Ewan
Tom G	4	14	1	3.5		63	Jack
Harry D	4	13	2	3.25		76	Joe T
Chris F	3	23	0	7.67		85	Eden
Mackenzie R	1	7	0	7.0		105	James
Raghuram	1	11	0	11.0
Ollie P	4	17	1	4.25
Joe B	3	29	1	9.67
Ben BJ	1	12	0	12.0

Oxton 124 for 6 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Tom G	Retired not out	35	39	90		5
Ben BJ	Retired not out	34	55	62		3
Joe B	b Joe T	4	2	200		1
Chris F	b Jack	0	1
Harry D	c ? b Olly	17	25	68		2
Max V	c ? b Andy	0	1
Ollie P	not out
Dhruv V	run out	1	4	25
Louis	c ? b Ewan	3	8	38
Raghuram	not out	0	3
Extras	16w 2nb 6b 1b	25
Total	for 6	124	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Ewan	4	13	1	3.25		63	Joe B
Erron	4	15	0	3.75		63	Chris F
Joe T	4	23	1	5.75		102	Max V
Jack	4	17	1	4.25		114	Harry D
James	3	17	1	5.67		116	Dhruv V
Bank [?]	2	16	0	8.0		124	Louis
JoeB	1	10	0	10.0
Andy	1	6	1	6.0
Olly	2	7	1	3.5

Worm graph for match

Match Report - Neston (away) Sun 29 June

Conditions: Warm, dry, but breezy after heavy overnight rain

After suffering a comprehensive defeat by Neston in the Cup less than two weeks ago, it was interesting to see if Oxton could regroup and maintain their unbeaten record in the League.

After torrential rain during the night, full marks to the Neston ground staff for actually managing to get a playable pitch ready, even if it meant restricting the bowling to one end only. Given the wet ground but sunny and breezy conditions, this was a toss that captain Jack C needed to win, and win he did, deciding to put Neston in whilst the outfield was still wet.

The Oxton opening bowlers responded with some very tight bowling, and the in the very first over, five dot balls from Dhruv were followed by a brilliant one-stump direct hit by Luke C fielding at point to run out the Neston number 1. Neston however settled and built up some solid partnerships, with Will C dropping anchor for almost the entire innings. Whilst some of the Oxton fielding was a little sloppy, Louis was very solid again behind the timbers, keeping the byes to a minimum, whilst a fine overhead catch by Luke sent the Neston back to the hutch. Neston never really got on top of the Oxton bowling and only in the last couple of overs did they manage to accelerate the scoring. Two run outs in the final eventful over brought the score to a respectable, but not unassailable 124-5.

This set Oxton a target run rate of exactly 5 an over and with the outfield drying up rapidly in the sunshine, there was always the sense that it was match on. Jack B and Tom G opened the Oxton batting, and with some great running between the wickets, punctuated by a few boundaries, the partnership put on 35 in 7 overs before Jack was bowled. Captain Jack C continued the good work, and by the time he was out in the 15th over, Oxton had laid the foundations from which to attack. Unfortunately Sam P and Harry D were perhaps a bit too attack-minded and fell in quick succession, allowing a few jitters to enter the Oxton camp, just as they did a few weeks earlier against Tranmere Victoria. This time, Oxton had Ed T to steady the ship and he played a vital innings, defending the straight balls, scoring off the rest. All the while, at the other end, Tom G had steadily accumulated runs, nudging single after single down to fine leg, with a couple of well-timed cover drives thrown in for the cameras. When he retired on 35, Raghuram picked up where Tom had left off, and batted responsibly to the penultimate over. With Oxton closing in on an impressive victory, it was left to Ed to finish the innings off in style, dispatching the ball over mid wicket for 6. With a final score of 125-5 off 23 overs, this was the perfect riposte to the Cup defeat two weeks ago.

Result

Oxton win by 5 wickets

Scorecard

Neston 124 for 5 (25 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Ethan	Run out (Luke C)	0	6
Will C	Run out	26	60	43		1
Elliot	b Jack C	22	20	110		4
Nick	c Luke C b Harry D	10	15	67		2
Alec	Retired not out	36	38	95		2
Luke	Run out	11	9	122		2
Jacob	not out	5	3	167		1
Extras	4w 5nb 2b 3lb	14
Total	for 5	124	(25 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Dhruv	4	22	0	5.5		0	Ethan
Jack B	4	13	0	4.67		29	Elliot
Jack C	3	8	1	2.67		43	Nick
Tom G	3	15	0	5.0		113	Alec
Harry D	3	17	1	5.67		124	Will C
Ed T	3	14	0	4.67
Sam P	2	17	0	8.5
Will L	3	18	0	6.0

Oxton 125 for 5 (23 overs)

Batsmen		Runs	Balls	S/R	6s	4s
Jack B	b Josh	17	23	74		2
Tom G	Retired (not out)	35	53	66		2
Jack C	b Will C	20	21	95		3
Sam P	b Elliot	4	3	133		1
Harry D	c? b Tom	0	3
Ed T	not out	24	16	150	1	3
Raghuram	c? b Will C	13	17	76		2
Louis	not out	1	1	100
Extras	9w 1nb 1b	11
Total	for 5	125	(22.5 overs)

Bowler	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ		Fall of Wicket
Alec	4	15	0	3.75		35	Jack B
Nick	2	9	0	4.5		71	Jack C
Luke J	4	13	0	3.25		76	Sam P
Josh	2	9	1	4.5		77	Harry D
Jacob	2	11	0	5.5		118	Raghuram
Will C	2.5	30	2	10.59
Elliot	2	10	1	5.0
Tom J	3	17	1	5.67
Max	1	11	0	11.0

Worm graph for match