Under 15s v Portsmouth Community Club

Petersfield U15s gained revenge for the narrow away loss to Portsmouth Community with a hard-fought yet ultimately comfortable win at Penns Place on Monday. Winning the toss and inserting Community, opening bowlers Alex Squires and Rob Straw tore into the batting, Squires in particular bowling superbly to take 2 for 6 off 4 overs and was unlucky not to pick up at least a couple more. Tom Pocock then chipped in with 3 for 8 including two wickets in two balls. Gabriel Broadhurst and Ben Anscombe provided excellent support with a wicket each. The bowling was tight (apart from the wides!) and the fielding electric, with Broadhurst (3 catches) and Bird (2 catches) outstanding. Jack Harvey and Will Grange also contributed to two sharp run-outs. ’Field were all over Community like a rash. Always under pressure, they struggled to 64 all out. Any notion that this was going to be a straightforward run chase were soon dispelled when Petersfield started their reply. The pitch was extremely low and slow with some variable bounce, while the bowling was miserly in the extreme. Nevertheless openers Alex Thomas and Gabe Broadhurst laid a solid foundation with a partnership of 28 off 8 overs, running well between the wickets, defending the good balls and punishing anything loose, before Broadhurst was bowled by Turner for 10. Josh Bird then relieved some of the pressure with a sprightly 15 including one of the biggest sixes seen at Penns for a long time. Despite a run-out mix-up at the death, Thomas saw ‘Field home with a captain’s knock of 28 not out. This was an excellent all-round performance by the u15s, who played some fine cricket and should be thoroughly proud of their performance against stubborn opponents and an opposition coach who put the grUMP into UMPire. Well done lads!