Another week, another young side with James Kennedy notably coming in for Jake who is currently deep in the darkest depths of Ibiza! Nonetheless it was a very exciting and promising team as we took on Odiham.

Having a generationally poor fielding warm up we were glad to win the toss and bat first, putting that all behind us.
Out went the nonchalant and laid back Redhead with the heavily experienced James Overy. Both batting positively and putting the bad ball away until Overs harshly(?) fell for 16, bringing in Trussler to the crease. After some flair from Redhead he decided to chip one up to mid-off in the following over. But another promising knock from the kid nonetheless. This then bought Kennedy to the crease, and with Trussler and Kennedy feasting on some relatively average bowling and even worse chat, they coasted for the next 16 overs, putting on 105 for the 3rd wicket. Trussler departed for a fluent 71, missing out on a ton for the second week in a row.

Kennedy then fell shortly after for a very well made 56, bringing A-Aron and Hughie Lewis together at the crease. With A-Aron hitting it particularly well before getting caught for 14. Swanny came in next and made 26 off 28 without a boundary, and alongside Hughie, helped us creep towards 274/7 off our allotted 50 overs.

After a lovely spread, it was the bowlers turn to do some damage with Pete and Sandy opening the bowling. With Pete bowling their overseas in the 3rd over, the signs were promising. After solid, yet uneventful, opening spells from Sandy and Pete, Eben then followed up by taking his first SPCL wicket by bowling their no.3. congrats Eben.

Either side of drinks, Redhead was invited to turn his arm over for a couple of wacky overs. Ultimately resulting in his first SPCL wicket, not bad for a batter!!

With a few more wickets for Trussler, Eben and Woolvine, pace off seemed to be more effective, so after a few overs of A-Aron’s seam, he started bowling his left arm off-spin which was hugely effective, bowling their number 8 around his legs! However, their score kept creeping up, with their young opener resolute in blocking out and batting time. Ultimately it was a good knock from the kid as he got them home by putting on over 70 for the 8th wicket partnership, getting the final runs in the last over.

It was another disappointing result for the 2s, having failed to defend over 270 for two weeks in a row. There has been lots of positives to draw on but also a few negatives to think about too, hopefully the tide will turn next week!