2nd XI Secure Spot in Top 3!

In a must win match, we won the toss and didn’t hesitate in electing to field first in what we thought were bowler friendly conditions.
We opened our bowling attack with the ever impressive Dan Fotheringham (8 overs, 1-24) and Rich Tomlinson (6 overs, 1-15). East Drayton started off on the front foot and quickly raced to 21 without loss, before Dan got the breakthrough with a great low catch by Matt Lyon. Soon after, Rich made up for an earlier dropped catch by bowling their other opener, who appeared to be their star man! At 31-2, we brought on our two spin kings, Tim Beer and Callum Edwards. The pair work really well in conjunction with each other, which was demonstrated today as Callum finished with figures of 2-19 off 8 overs, and Tim 3-18 off 8 overs. The dynamic of the game had now turned around, and we felt we were now firmly on the front foot. Tom Paintain (3 overs, 0-6) bowled nicely towards the end of the innings, however it was David Freeman (5 overs, 3-20) that cleaned up, taking the final three wickets. East Drayton Sports CC finished on 105 all out from 38 overs.

During the interval, we all agreed and were confident we could reach this target, however things didn't start well as Steve Sleight (2) fell early. Unfortunately, wickets continued to fall as our middle order batsmen struggled to reach double figures. Matt Lyon, however, stood firm and scored a wonderful 60*, carrying his bat to the very end to secure the victory with 10 overs to spare!

Other results in the division went our way to, meaning our 2nd XI have finishing in 3rd place with no chance of being caught. This is an outstanding achievement from a side which has had an excellent team spirit throughout the season. Every-single member of the team has played their part this season and are rightfully deserving of this accomplishment. Well done to all that have been involved this season! UTP.