Match repports VCC U10, 13-14 May, 2011

MATCH REPORT – VCC U10 v ROOD & WIT – FRIDAY 13 MAY 2011
5 brave VCC U10’s (Billy, Joseph, Alfie, Jamieson, Joe) and their parents made the mad dash from school to be at Haarlem for the 5pm start.   Your commitment and support is appreciated, especially Alfie, who was sleep deprived after several late nights chatting up the girls at his school camp. Captain Billy won the toss and elected to bowl.  R & W were very sporting in lending us 3 fielders for the duration of their innings.   We struggled to contain some very strong batters on the postage stamp ground but the boys tried courageously and never gave up.  Joe took a great caught and bowled.  R & W compiled a very healthy 111 runs from their 16 overs. The boys were replenished with cordial and sausage rolls between innings and Billy and Alfie strode to the crease looking determined.  It was difficult for all our batters to cope with the low bounce coming from the grass outfield we were playing on, with many balls bouncing no more than ankle height.  Billy and Alfie toiled hard to give us a solid start to the run chase.  The highlight of Joe’s innings was a beautiful cover drive played with his front elbow high and head over the ball.  Straight out of the text book!  Joseph’s batting was excellent, playing some great shots to the leg side and running well between the wickets.  Jamieson finished our innings strongly with some lovely pull shots to the boundary.  We ended with 43 runs in reply. R & W were excellent hosts and the game was played in great spirit.  Many thanks to Billy’s mum Lisa who kindly volunteered to score, doing a great job for a first time score.

MATCH REPORT – VCC U10 v BLOEMENDAAL – SATURDAY 14 MAY 2011
Alfie didn’t have much of a chance to sleep in, as we had to back up for a 9am start against Bloemendaal on Saturday.  Again we only had 5 with Alfie, Billy, Jamieson, Vivek and new boy Sean.   There was a strong and chilly wind blowing across the ground.  Undeterred, the boys warmed up well with some jogging, stretching and catching mixed with the odd rugby tackle. Captain Alfie called correctly and we decided to bowl.  It turned out to be a masterstroke as our bowling was awesome.  Bloemendaal, with 10 players, were also very gracious in giving us fielders.  Vivek, Alfie and Billy bowled tightly, just missing the stumps on several occasions.  Sean, playing his 1st game of cricket took 2 wickets clean bowled.  What a debut! The highlight of our bowling innings was a great over from Jamieson who took two wickets bowled and made 2 run outs by pouncing on the ball and hitting the stumps direct.  In his next over Jam took another wicket bowled to finish with 3 wickets for only 1 run to add to his 2 run outs.  As a result of our great bowling and fielding, Bloemendaal finished with net 8 runs. Jamieson and Sean got us off to a great start with the stick, with Sean being super quick between the wickets. The boys took plenty of cheeky singles to keep the score ticking over.  Alfie kept the momentum going with some strong drives and pulls, top scoring with 18 runs.  Vivek was solid as a rock and enjoyed a great partnership with Billy, who played some nice pull shots to finish off our innings.  We made 51 runs and only lost 3 wickets leaving us with nett 42.  A fantastic win against all odds!  Well done VCC. Many thanks to Lisa for scoring again and to Mark, Lucie and Sadhana for the sideline cheering.