Having
gone through the regular season unbeaten Bashley arrived at Finals day in
confident mood. But their opponents Wimborne & Colehill A had proved
tough opposition in the group and it was a surprise to see them coming in as
the 4th placed team. The omens looked good with Bashley batting first for the
7th consecutive match and the opening pair of Dan Bailey and Josh Royan
getting the lads off to a flyer. Bailey (44) in particular was in sparkling
form with 3 trademark straight drives to the back boundary bringing an early
retirement. But consistent bowling from Wimborne & Colehill began to peg
Bashley back and when Royan fell just short of retirement to a sharp stumping
the battle between bat and ball became a tightly contested affair in the middle
overs. Toby Mills played nicely taking the limited opportunities on offer,
accompanied by Sam Presland and Joshua Bailey, but there were few extras and
limited buffet bowling on offer to help the lads accelerate the run
rate. Scott Menary did well to add useful runs at the death in a late
flurry with the returning Dan Bailey but 121 looked as if it it might be a
tough total to defend.
When
the sides changed over Bashley needed a good start and the opening duo of Josh
Royan and Joshua Bailey restricted the Wimborne openers in the early going.
However it was always likely that the boys were going to have to take wickets
to win the match and they proved frustratingly difficult to come by. In
previous matches the ball almost seemed magnetically attracted the Bashley
fielders but today it seemed to always be a foot one side or the other or the
ball would magically go over middle stump rather than catching the bails.
Captain Royan marshaled his field inventively and juggled the bowling order to
keep Bashley in the game whilst Mills was a reassuring presence behind the
stumps. A smart catch by Presland and two run outs gave Bashley an outside chance
but ultimately Wimborne just had too much for them on the day reaching the
required total with 5 balls to spare.
Confirmation
of how strong a side Wimborne were came just an hour later in the final when
they demolished Parley, second semi final winners, for 46 with Wimborne
reaching that total without losing a wicket themselves.
The Bashley boys,
including Jack Harris and Will Syms who would have come in for the final if we
had progressed, have much to be proud of in going unbeaten through the league
season and conducting themselves with great skill and spirit. It has been a
pleasure to be involved with this team and to have had great support from the
parents throughout. I wish all the boys well for the summer season and very
much hope we can pick up where we left off again next winter.
Report by Graham Presland
Many thanks to Graham for all his hard work during the indoor season
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