ACADEMY FIND A WAY TO A CONVINCING WIN AT SACRISTON,
28th May 2025
ACADEMY FIND A WAY TO A CONVINCING WIN AT SACRISTON,
28th May 2025
ACADEMY FIND A WAY TO A CONVINCING WIN AT SACRISTON,
IMPORTANT PARTNERSHIPS FOR 9TH & 10TH WICKETS VITAL,
VARUN & SAM SHINE, THEN GEORGE TAKES 5 IN 4 OVERS.
Sun 25th May 2025: NEPL Sunday First Division: SNCC v Sacriston (a) 40/40
SNCC Academy 217-9 (40o) Jan Ozmen 39, Varun Gudipati 31 Sam Lee 53*: Jake Atkinson 4-21, Charlie Anderson 1-38, George McKie 2-8, Freddie Lawler 1-27, Alfie Hart 0-13, Jack Heckles 0-19, Patrick Price 0-46, Riley Fletcher 1-25.
Sacriston 111ao (29o) Rowan Nailer 24, Jake Atkinson 37, Charlie Anderson 10: George McConnell 5-15, Varun Gudipati 2-35, Sam Lee 3-16, Jacques Graham 0-13, Tom Oliver 0-5, Olly Alexander 0-17.
SNCC won by 106 runs - 25 points, Sacriston 10.
From the depths of 110-8 after 29 overs, spirited partnerships of 66, between Varun Gudipati & Sam Lee, & then 41 between Sam & Tom Oliver established a defendable total which George McConnell's 5 wicket spell in 5 overs saw the home side slump to 33-5 after 10 overs & not recover. Sam 3 wickets & Varun 2 saw the Bulls home after 29 overs.
A breezy day, the wicket towards the Pavilion side, SNCC chose to bat. 13-1 in the 3rd over as Jacob McCord (5) after one straight drive, edged to w/k Straker off Atkinson. 24-2 in the 5th when Will Carr (2) edged to first slip also off Atkinson. 31-3 in the 8th as Will Oliver (4) mistimed to cover. George hit a boundary & Jan 4x4 but at 51 in the 13th George (5) hit to deep square leg, into the strong breeze, to be caught in the deep by Fletcher, 4 down.
As Fletcher (rm) & McKie (ob) continued, Jan & Olly Alexander steadily increased the total. Jan striking boundaries & a 6 to square leg. The score reached 85 in the 22nd when Jan (39, 67b, 6x4 1x6) was lbw sweeping McKie a ball that was too full for the shot.
Matthew Rathbone struck 2x4 in the 25th but in the next Olly Alexander (12, 45b) who had batted responsibly, edged McKie to slip, 99-6. Matthew Rathbone (11) drove a catch to cover in the next off Atkinson, 99-7. Varun struck a 6 to long on but in the next Jacques Graham (3) was bowled by Atkinson.110-8.
There followed a match defining partnership of 66 between Varun & Sam Lee between overs 30 & 38 as Heckles, Anderson, Fletcher & later Price entered the attack. Driving or targetting the short Pavilion boundary if length too short, Varun took 8 from Fletcher in the 36th , Sam 16 off Price in the next.
Varun's vital innings (31, 35b 4x4 1x6) came to an end when he was caught by Anderson off Fletcher, 176-9. But Sam continued, pulling 22 off the 39th as Price's length deserted him &, in company with Tom, the pair raised the total to a formidable 217 at the close. Sam a very enterprising & destructive 53*,(39b, 4x4, 4x6 ) & Tom 7*, a partnership of 41 in only two overs !!
In reply Nailer & Hart faced Gudipati (rm) & George McConnell (lm). A steady start but at 17 in the 4th Hart (8) drove to cover where Jan took a high catch with aplomb. A boundary to Nailer & 5 wides + 1 no ball in George's 3rd but with radar restored bowling full & straight with a hint of in swing to the right handers, George took 4 wickets in 2 overs.
A triple wicket maiden as ball 2 Straker (1), ball 3 Dodds (0) & ball 6 Fletcher (0) were all bowled. In his 5th Price (0) also succumbed bowled. A first 5 fer for George showing what he is capable of, 33-5. Magnifique mes amis!
At 52 after 12 overs, Sam Lee began a spell in over 13 & had Heckles (8) very well caught by Jan at cover retreating, over his head, a splendid one handed take, 6 down. In Sam's next Nailer (24) drove to mid off where Will Oliver took a neat catch, 57-7.
Anderson & Atkinson attacked taking 3x4 but in over19 Sam persuaded Atkinson (10) to loft towards mid wicket where Jacques took the chance well, 76-8. Jacques Graham, Tom Oliver & Olly Alexander had short spells, Atkinson punishing variations of length. Varun returned & finished the innings in the 29th over. After conceding a boundary he then bowled Atkinson (37) with the second ball & with the last Lawler (0) edged to w/k Rathbone, 110 all out.
An eventually comprehensive win by 106 runs but the importance of partnerships & battling when required so important to achieve a competitive total. Then the benefits of bowling straight & full demonstrated by George & some good catching & ground fielding backing up the bowlers. Fielding matters !! Please let us do more of these things.
Onward to Sun 1st June SNCC Academy v Benwell Hill (h) 40/40 from 1330. We hope you can be there to cheer the team on.
Duncan.