JUNIORS SUCCUMB TO ALFAS SUNDAY SIDE
On a wonderful day at the Columbus Oval, Sporting Alfas came out winners in a great game of cricket against a spirited CE Junior XI.
Alfas batting first opened with the tried and tested partnership of Dovaston and Joe Williams. Dovaston scored freely whilst Williams played an anchor role and the pair quickly moved on to 35 before Williams was bowled in the eighth over by Sunderland. Marriner quickly followed in Sunderland’s next over without troubling the scorers and Alfas found themselves stumbling a little a 44 for 2.
At this point the opening bowlers of Munoz and Sunderland were rested and replaced by Matt Winter and Dan Togher.This pair continued to contain Alfas and were rewarded when Winter bowled Dovaston for an inventive 40. Neil Wynn coming into bat at number five joined Don Rose and over the course of 15 overs they pushed the score from 75 for 3 to 169 until Rose finally fell to a superb catch by Aiden Daley off the bowling of Winter for 30.
With Wynn well settled and Griffen playing a cameo innings of 26 Alfas moved close to the 200 mark before losing two quick wickets to Munoz and Winter respectively in the 33rd and 34th over.The last six overs yielded 60 runs as the big hitting Steve Lewis and Graham Kellington surged the Alfas final total to a very respectable 254 for 8.
CE Juniors seemed undaunted by the large total they found themselves chasing and despite the early setback of losing Brook to another fine catch from last years record breaking fielder Ben Marriner they remained focused and dug in to compete admirably.
Despite carrying injuries Brad Seekings carved out a mature innings of 66, which was matched by an equally spirited display by Christian Munoz who remained fluent throughout his innings despite having to retire hurt at one point due to an hamstring problem . Notable batting contributions from Matt Winter and Jack Hersh guided the total for the Juniors to a very respectable 185 for 6 off their allocated 40 overs. Part time bowler for Alfas Don Rose suggested he could be a possible bowling option for captain Steve Lewis during the coming season by returning figures of 4-20 off four overs and the captain himself proved to be as economical as ever with figures that saw just two runs scored off his four overs.
The game was played in a great spirit and in ideal conditions and showed once again that the Juniors continue to move upwards on their learning curve and that they should be a match for any team in the forthcoming ECC Under 15 tournament that will grace La Manga this coming August.