Saturday 1st XI Vs Letchworth Garden City II

After the disappointment of being bowled out so cheaply on the opening day of the season, the 1st XI travelled to Letchworth looking to bounce back. Jake lost the toss and they chose to bat first on what looked a decent pitch and a big outfield.

Ricky and Avo opened the bowling for Eversholt, and the first 10 overs were well disciplined if unthreatening, before Ricky bowled opener Manning for 9, with the score 40-1. A big partnership formed between other opener Sprittles, and number 3 Bridge, who batted extremely well and added 106 together, before Ben had Bridge caught by Buzz for 49. A flurry of wickets then followed as numbers 4, 5 and 6 were out cheaply, Ben with two of them and Luke picking up the other.

At 158-5 after 35 overs, Eversholt looked like they might be able to restrict Letchworth to something they could chase. However Sprittles batted on, becoming more expansive after he passed 50, and found a partner in Kendle batting at 7. They put on over 50, and Sprittles went to a very well made hundred off 124 balls, before being stumped by Jake off Luke for 115. Some good hitting from the lower order took Letchworth’s total to 271-7, a tough chase on any day.

It rained at tea, and whilst we didn’t lose any overs to the weather, the outfield that had dried out all day slowed up significantly making it difficult for openers Josh and Steve to find the fence. They batted with positivity however, and when Josh was bowled for 26 in the 10th over, the score was 58-1 and Eversholt had a platform.

Steve, not fully fit and struggling to run, was run out not long after for 35, bringing Jake and Ian together. The pair put on 50 in quick time, before the free-flowing Ian was adjudged to be LBW amid stifled appeals. Jake and Ben batted nicely together, putting on nearly 60 before Jake too was out LBW for 48.

Eversholt were never quite up with the rate to reach the target of 272, but some useful contributions down the order from Darren, Luke and Avo saw us reach 245-8 off the last ball of the innings and secure maximum batting points, and 17 from the day.

Man of the Match goes to Ben for his spell of 10-1-38-3, and his 21 with the bat. On a day when Eversholt were light on bowling, 17 points was a good haul and it was good to get a decent total with the bat after being bundled out for 69 last time out.