Belmont & Edgware 3rd XI suffered a 92-run defeat against Weldon.
Stand-in BECC captain Blasebalk won the toss and looking at the short boundaries and glut of young bowlers, decided to field. Based on the performance of the young team featuring six Under 17 players, it was the right decision as the strength was in the bowling.
Jack Mendel and Rafael Levin bowled probably the best opening eight overs of the season for the club. Fast and accurate with movement, they made the batsmen concentrate hard. Both came back at the end and showed style way beyond their years. Mendel returned figures of 1-18 off five and Levin 1-27 off seven) and with bigger boundaries would have had even better figures.
They were replaced by 13 year-old Oskar Hollinsworth and Meir Grunhut. Both bowled tightly and were rewarded for their efforts.
There is a great deal of potential with all the bowlers and to see them eagerly running in was a pleasure to watch. It was good to see the response from Grunhut after being hit for a six. He kept the same rhythm but just bowled a little fuller and got revenge as the stumps went flying. Hollinsworth finished with 1-12 off four and Grunhut 2-28 off seven.
Ashley Hirschberger also bowled well and covered nearly every blade of grass in the field. Paul Levy attacked the tail and with the help of a good catch from Jack Shulman in the deep took 2-21 off five.
The innings came to an end with a superb one-handed catch by Ellis Tuhrim to give Mendel a much-deserved wicket.
In reply, BECC lost their captain and Heath Hollinsworth early, but it brought Phil Peters and Hollinsworth together. Some nice strokes saw the ball hurry to the boundary before Hollinsworth was dismissed for 13.
The rest of the team played support to Peters as he single-handedly pushed the run rate way above the required five. Unfortunately, wickets kept falling at the other end - shots straight to fielders, catches held and a few missed straight balls saw the game swing in favour of Weldon.
When Peters was bowled for 45 there were only a handful wickets left. The result does not reflect how close it could have been had one or two other batsmen got in.
The BECC captain said: “It was a pleasure to spend a Sunday with such a great bunch of players who truly demonstrated the spirit of cricket. All put in 100% effort and have immense potential. Hopefully, they will be playing throughout the rest of the season as they set an example that will inspire others in their team.”
Weldon 178-8
BECC III 86 Phil Peters 45
Weldon won by 92 runs
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