Braintree’s Under 11’s entertained league leaders Halstead on Thursday hoping to recreate the form that had seen them beat Great Totham 2 days earlier and consolidate a mid table position.
With confusion over the format The Dolphins were a man light and batted first looking to set an imposing total, as they had earlier in the week. Within 3 balls they were on the back foot as form batsmen Will sherry was bowled second ball by Taylor-Aris and the very next ball a mix up with Corbyn MacLeod led to a run out. With another wicket falling in the set Braintree had managed a net score of 5 from their opening 4 overs and needed to rebuild.
George Wedge and Harry Macklin were tasked with getting the inning back on track but were pegged back early on as Wedge was bowled by Rayner in his 1st over. The pair added 24 in there 4 overs which included a wonderfully struck boundary from Wedge but 2 wickets fell in their final over to halt the charge and leave The Dolphins on 214 from 8 overs
Jake Lee and Henry Butler too the 3rd set and struggled to dominate an excellent bowling attack. Lee did get away one of his trademark pull shots to score his first boundary but was unlucky to be bowled the following ball as the pair scored 10 for the loss of 2 wickets during their stay. What has been the lads strength for the season was haunting them tonight as wickets were falling regularly.
Luke Huckson and skipper, Lucas Hale, were next to try and blunt the Halstead attack but they also struggle to get the excellent Goodwin and Judge to the fence until the 16th over when Hale took full advantage of a couple of full tosses to up the rate. 21 runs added but importantly no wickets lost – the score was now 235 with 1 pair left.
With only 9 players Braintree needed someone to bat again and the skipper took the responsibility, alongside Bertie Burnside, to try and get a competitive total on the board. 7 runs came from the 17th over with Burnside happy to find the singles to give his captain the strike and Hale obliged striking the final ball of the over to the fence which he mirrored in the 18th. 2 overs to go, 251 now on the board.
The first ball of the penultimate over saw a run out as they looked to up the rate but they did manage to score 13 runs in the over as Burnside continued to push Hale to run harder as he found gaps in the field with ease. Hale struck his 5th boundary towards the end of the over but in the final over he was bowled to give Halstead their 10th wicket but there was something to smile about from the final ball of the innings as he hit his first career six, back over the bowlers head, to see Braintree finish on 264.
It was always going to be tough to keep this excellent side tied down and the home side desperately needs wickets to put the pressure on the visitors. Following some missed opportunities their first breakthrough came, in the 5th over when Will Sherry to an excellent return catch to take the wicket of Cook but they had to wait until the 14th over before their next, Sherry again this time bowling Clark.
A run out followed in the next over but by now the game was out of reach as with 2 overs to go Halstead had reached 283, 19 runs ahead. 4 wickets required from 2 overs and no runs conceded – could they pull off a miracle?
2 wickets would fall in the 19th over a Hale bowled Taylor-Aris twice, having shaken him up the previous over with a bouncer that crashed into his helmet, but 3 runs off of the over meant 3 wickets were now required from the 20th. Despite a valiant effort Huckson was unable to wave his magic wand and 8 runs were scored off the final over with a run out from the final ball.
A tough evening out for the Young Dolphins but they battled well against the side that will lift the league trophy at the end of the season.
One more game to go for our lads and they’ll be looking for a big win as West Bergholt visit in early August