Sporting Alfas II took a steady climb up the ECCL Development League table yesterday with victory over a youthful La Manga Kings at the Woodbridge Oval.
Alfas won the toss and invited La Manga Kings to bat. Openers Kevin Buckley and Martin Harbour played very cautiously under instructions to see off the Alfas strike bowlers. They successfully achieved this goal but the runs were sparse as a result and by the first drinks break at 20 overs the Kings were running at just over one run per over.
With the very first ball after drinks the first wicket went down when Harbour offered a simple caught and bowled to Kieran Perman. This brought the promising youngster Tim Stevenson to the crease and the spectators were treated to fantastic tussle between bowler and batsman.
The two fifteen year olds both showed composure and flair beyond their years with each having moments of success as Buckley kept plodding away at the other end in an attempt to get the Kings total moving at a swifter rate.
Buckley fell with a personall tally of 31 but Stevenson contiuned to play patiently as Atkinson took over the mantle of scoring runs quickly. A sturdy 45 was the outcome for Atkinson whilst Stevenson batted well into the Kings 45 overs for a productive 39 runs.
The Kings eventually finished with a total of 148 for 5 off 45 overs. The evergreen John Braithwaite was the pick of the Alfas bowlers. His two spells totalled 12 overs and he claimed two wickets in this stint for just 26 runs.
In reply, Kings started well, restricting the run rate and removing openers Mckinstry and Nix cheaply. Abdul Wahid played a more aggressive innings and survived three dropped catches before being adjudge leg before for 45.
The Alfas skipper Evans played a more constrained innings and showed his experience and remained unflappable when the quick wickets of Tyler Brown and Ashraf threatened to derail a victory for Alfas.
Evans deservedly hit the winning runs to give his side victory and head back to the pavillion 48 not out with a couple of overs to spare. Alfas took the full 24 points from the game, whilst Kings took just four points but plenty of memorable performances back to La Manga with them.
Both teams meet up again next weekend in the return league fixture when La Manga will play hosts on the home ground. Start time 11 am and entrance is free. All welcome.
Sporting Alfas Cricket Club Sporting Alfas 2nd X1 Batting
| Player Name | Runs | M | B | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
extras
TOTAL : |
3nb 19w 1b 2lb
for 5 wickets |
25
150 |
(34.4 overs) | |||||||
| Bob Nix | ct James Bowled Williams | 2 | 24 | 12 | ||||||
| Neil McKinstry | b Williams | 6 | 17 | 22 | ||||||
| Abdul Wajid | lbw Wharton | 45 | 80 | 58 | ||||||
| Geoff Evans | Not Out | 48 | 135 | 81 | ||||||
| Tyler Hogan Brown | ct Buckerly+ Bowled Hunt | 14 | 17 | 13 | ||||||
| Waqar Ashraf | b Hunt | 5 | 14 | 16 | ||||||
| John Braithwaite | Not Out | 0 | ||||||||
| Jack Perman | ||||||||||
| Kieran Perman | ||||||||||
| Mark Perman | ||||||||||
| James Wallington Smith | ||||||||||
LM Kings Bowling
| Player name | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Average | Economy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams | 6.0 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 7.00 | 2.33 |
| T Stevenson | 6.0 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.17 |
| R James | 4.0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.50 |
| B Stevenson | 4.0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 27.00 | 6.75 |
| Wharton | 4.0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.75 |
| Atkinson | 4.0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| Hunt | 3.4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 3.00 | 1.64 |
| B.Buckerly | 3.0 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0.00 | 3.00 |