Sports Round Up: Week 9.

U11 Girls’ IAPS Cricket

In the first game we played The Elms and our  bowling figures were good; Erin bowled the last over and manage to keep it tight and not give any extras away. This game ended with us losing very narrowly by five runs. In the second game we played Repton, and the girls impressed us with how they took the feedback on board from the first match. Eshal, as captain, set her field very well and the fielding was much tighter. We won this game quite comfortably.

In the last game we played Fairfield, who are a strong sports school. Our girls were a little shocked when in the first over their batter scored three sixes! Our girls went on to bowl brilliantly and took four wickets. Fairfield us set a target of 79 and we knew this was achievable, as in the previous match we had scored 72. Going into the last over, we needed 24 runs. This was quite daunting for Erin and Eshal, our last batting pair and it ended up being nail-biting for all watching. The girls batted so well and, due to wides having to be re-bowled in the last over, we ended up facing 13 balls. On the final ball we had to run two to win and the girls tried their hardest, but were run out on the second run. It was all very exciting for everyone and the camaraderie shown between the girls in both teams really emphasized what these days are all about.

Well done, everyone!

U9&U8 Cricket v Malvern St James

On Tuesday, we travelled to Malvern and played an indoor game of cricket against MSJ. Millie and Mia made a strong start to the match; they opened the bowling and did very well. Our strongest bowler of the match, bowling only one wide and having no runs scored against her, was Greta.  MSJ set us a target of 230 to chase and the girls impressed with their tenacious batting and their talking between the wickets. Mia was our strongest batter, scoring two fours and hitting nearly every ball. The girls scored 247 runs and were delighted with their win.

U9B Cricket v Malvern St James

The girls had a wonderful afternoon at Malvern St James on Tuesday. They won the toss and elected to field first. There was some excellent overarm bowling by the girls, and the extras are getting fewer with every match. Skye got a wicket on her first ball and we managed to limit our opponents to 239. The opposition’s Bowler of the Match was awarded to Yifei.  When it was our turn to bat, the girls were asked to call for every ball: “Yes”, “No” or “Wait”. Many did this successfully, but it is also something to work on next week and next season. We did, however, manage to run many singles when there was a run on, by calling, which was excellent! The Opposition’s Batter of the Match was Tilly; we say well done to her! We managed to score 252, so it was a very close match at the end. Well done girls!

U9/8 Girls Cricket v MSJ

A great afternoon of cricket saw the U8/U9 girls play impressively against Malvern St James. We won the toss and decided to bowl first. Marnie and Ivy got us off to a great start, bowling very accurately. They only bowled one no-ball between them and took three wickets. Maddie and Georgia kept this momentum going, keeping the run-rate low. The other girls also bowled well, giving us a very achievable target to aim for. We were accurate in our batting, playing some nice shots and also only losing one wicket. Everyone batted well, with Aria and Romi showing good improvement and Nell hitting a lovely six and a nice four along the way. We managed to surpass their total, taking a good win in the process. The game was played in great spirits and there was the bonus of a lovely match tea to round the afternoon off nicely.

U10A Boys Cricket v Winterfold

The King’s St Alban’s boys had a tough task ahead of them as we faced a strong U11 Winterfold team. Reuben won the toss and decided to bowl first. The progress we have made this term is fantastic and this showed throughout. We were alert and controlled in the field, stopping singles, backing up well and walking in on every ball. The KSA bowling was brilliant; we kept it tight and bowled a good line and length all afternoon. Well done to Theo S, Francis C and Harry S, who all picked up wickets. Reuben A captained the team and set his field well. He also took an impressive diving catch behind the stumps.

The excitement ran through to the batting innings and the KSA boys stayed with the run-rate for the whole 16 overs. Reuben (23) and Francis (8) were the stand out batters. It is always lovely to walk off a pitch and for the opponents’ coach to comment about how impressed he was with the standard and their sportsmanship.

We offer a massive well done to the team on a fantastic performance.

U10B Boys Cricket v Winterfold

This was another fantastic afternoon of cricket on the King’s sports fields, with the B team putting in another fine display against Winterfold. King’s St Alban’s fielded first, and the boys bowled very well, finding a good line and length on their deliveries. Highlights came from Humphrey, who had his best game of the season, making a fine catch at square leg, and James, George and Henry, each taking a wicket. With a score of 81 to chase down, Jack and Humphrey opened the batting and got the team off to a good start, scoring 11 runs. Henry and Aaron batted next and scored an excellent 23 runs, with the boys playing some nice shots. The third pair to bat were James and Joshua, who kept the run-rate ticking along nicely, with 14 runs between them. George and Will R were the fourth batting pair and scored an excellent 28 runs, setting the game up for a very close finish. Jacob and Wilf came in for the last four overs of the game and scored an incredible 39 between them, with Wilf scoring three fantastic boundaries. Well done boys!