ACADEMY BEGIN WITH A GOOD TEAM WIN AT WHITBURN. Sun 26 April 2026: NEPL Sunday Div 1: SNCC V Whitburn (40/40)

28th Apr 2026

SNCC 198-7 (40o) Aadi Bethanabatla 24, Olly Alexander 33, Will Carr 22, George McConnell 21, Elliott Mee 54*, Matthew Smith 20, Varun Gudipati 14*: Huw Morgan 2-28, Ethan McGill 1-42, Alex Mapstone 1-41, Finn Hargrave 1-35. Matty Neal 2-49.

Whitburn 146ao (34.3o) Toby Whelan 18, Huw Morgan 21, Dan Quinan 23, Matthew Sneller 31*, Fraser Nicholson 19: Will Young 2-31, George McConnell 1-19, Tom Oliver 1-26, Elliott Mee 5-28, Varun Gudipati 1-23, Matthew Smith 0-11.

SNCC won by 52 runs-  25 points, Whitburn 10.

A youthful Academy team visited a sunny Whitburn to find a wicket cut towards the Gardens providing an enticing short boundary. The hosts won the toss & chose to field Aadi Bethanabatla & Olly Alexander faced the seam of Morgan (road) & McGill (wood).

An enterprising opening stand of 49 ended in the 12^th over when Aadi (24, 41b, 5x4)  who had driven nicely through cover & cut hard, was caught at cover off McGill. Two overs later captain Jan Ozmen (4) edged a lifting delivery to slip off Mapstone, 57-2.

In the same over Will Carr hit 3x4 - cutting, to square leg & driving! A partnership of 31ensued until at 88 in the 19^th Olly (33, 54b, 4x4) was lbw to a fuller delivery from Hargrave as he seemed to aim to leg. Two overs later Will Carr 22 (19b,4x4 1x6)  a positive innings, succumbed at 89 driving Morgan on the up to Sneller at cover, 89-4.

Debutant Ben Lee (0, 10b) looked organised but was bowled by Morgan in the 23rd, 90-5. George & Elliott put together a partnership of 36 for the 6^th wicket until at 126 George (21, 21b, 2x4,1x6) who had already slog swept Neal for 6, aimed at the short boundary again but mistimed to be caught in the deep, 6 down;12 overs remaining.

There followed a vital & exemplary partnership of 58 between Elliott Mee & Matthew Smith at a crucial stage of the innings. As Neal & Hargrave probed, the pair ran very well posting 28 singles to keep the scoreboard ticking as well as putting away the bad ball.

Both showed an awareness of a single & supported each others calls admirably. A match defining partnership ended only in the last over when Matthew (20,36b,1x4) was caught off Neal. Varun entered & smote 4,6,4 from the 3 balls he faced !! Magnificent! The innings closed at a defendable 198-7. Elliott 54* (50b, 7x4) a mature, aware & organised innings.

In reply Whelan & McGill faced the seam of Will Young (rm-road) & George McConnell (lm-wood). Will suffered in overs 3 & 5 but George kept a good line & in his 3^rd McGill (11) advanced, but mistimed to Tom Oliver at mid wicket, 23-1.

In Will's next Whelan (18) was bowled by a full delivery, 31-2. In the 11^th Tom Oliver's first Mapstone (8) drove but edged & w/k Will Carr took a good, diving catch two handed to his right, 41-3. Elliott Mee's leg spin entered in over 14 from the wood end & in his second Downey (0) was bowled playing forward to one that moved in.

After Quinan had struck Tom for 6, one over later Morgan (0) advanced to Elliott & was bowled, 70-6. Quinan (23) struck 4 then 6 but in Varun's first, the 21st, in trying to hit over the top, he was bowled, 90-6.

Elliott continued to bowl with good control of length & line & despite conceding 6 to Sneller in his 7th, in his next took three wickets !! Neal (0) bowled by one that drifted in, Hargrave (0) lbw to a full delivery & Hugill (0) bowled by the arm ball, 107-9. C'est magnifique mes amis!!

A spirited last wicket partnership of 39 between Sneller (31*) & Nicholson (19) was ended by Will Young with the third ball of the 35^th over when he bowled Nicholson, full & straight.

A very good team win with many playing important parts, Elloitt standing out with 54* then 8-2-28-5 bowling his leg breaks with good control.

Onward to Sun 3^rd May SNCC Academy v Burnopfield (h) 1330 40/40, we hope you can be here.