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On a glorious spring day, our U12A team lined up for their first ever Twenty/20 game against fellow 12A competitors DLS Seagulls. Down at Woolooware Oval, the outfield looked fast and the skies clear. Twenty/20 cricket brings its own set of rules and strategies, meaning that our old plans were dismissed and Ian and Dennis invented new ones.
At the toss, Josh won and elected to bowl. Always good to know what you will be chasing. With the field set and the batters ready we started the game. Jack bowled first, and for a moment it seemed like a normal Saturday, as he bowled a maiden first up. Adam was his opening bowling partner and in his second over got our first 20/20 wicket, caught neatly by Anu. Adam and Jack continued to bowl tightly, with Jack picking up the other opener caught by Luke and after 5 overs, DLS were 2 for 12. Joel and Harry bowled next and for the following 4 overs, kept it tight, with Joel bowling an impressive 2 overs for 6 runs and Harry copying a bit of stick going for 11 off his 2 overs. Anu and Lachlan came on next and Lachie was at times unplayable, bowling 4 great overs for only 11 runs. He had the batsmen ducking and weaving, as he bowled a very quick spell. Anu’s first over was a gem going for only 2 before the batsmen worked him out, getting to the pitch of it and sending his next over for 9. But this is 20/20 and these things can happen. After 12 overs, DLS were 2 for 42 with their batsmen looking set and ready to plunder. Lachlan bowled a ripper to knock their captains’ stumps out of the ground and Luke did same to the batsmen who replace him. But they still had one batsman who was holding their innings together and managed to blast 11 off Dylan’s only over – the 19th and 8 off the 20th over by Jack. After 20 overs, they were 85, a pretty decent effort and makes it’s anyone’s game.
After a 10 minute break, which involved a sausage sandwich and drinks, Jarrod and Josh were sent out to the middle. Jarrod faced and got a single off the first ball, which Josh then followed up by hitting a four off the second. A great start to the innings. The boys played smart cricket, scoring singles, and the odd four with Josh dismissed for 12 off 14 balls. Jarrod was then run out scoring 20 off 21 balls and we were 2 for 39 after 7 overs. Dylan was also run out for 1 and it was left to Lachlan and Luke to bring it home. They did it in fine style moving the score along at a brisk pace, to be both not out as we passed DLS’s score in the 15th over. Luke hit the winning runs, fittingly a four to be not out on 14 off 20 balls while Lachlan played a great innings scoring 30 not out off 29 balls. The support on the sidelines was huge as the players cheered them on. With the game won, the 2 coaches decided to bowl out the remaining overs and give the boys a chance. Matt, Joey, Joel, Anu, Harry and Adam all got a chance to throw the willow at anything that moved. At the end of the day, comments were heard about this being the best day ever… They had a lot of fun, and this was helped by DLS showing good spirit by putting on a BBQ for the players The two captains gave speeches at the end, we packed up and went home to try and get the kids to sleep. A great day and we are looking forward to Round 2.
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