U15Bs overcome Tiffin by seven wickets for opening win of season
By Alex Watson
Hampton School won the toss and elected to bowl
Tiffin School 137-5 (25 overs)
T. Hughes 51* (38) J. Youster 2-24
K. Ratcliffe 16 (26) J. Ghotra 1-11
S. Nair 15 (15) A. Watson 1-23
Hampton School 138-3 (19.2 overs)
A. Kirthivasan 55 (52) K. Ratcliffe 2-29
S. Hilmy 28* (23) R. Rana 1-19
C. Moffat 19 (19)
On a surprisingly sunny day, considering the weather forecast, Hampton captain Yuvraj Sahota was quick to put the visitors, Tiffin School, in to bat on a damp, skiddy wicket.
After a disappointing defeat to Merchant Taylors on the opening Saturday of the season, the U15Bs were extremely motivated to get their first win of the campaign before heading into fixtures against Harrow School and Dulwich College.
Shivang Shukla opened the bowling with Alex Watson, and the pair kept things pretty tight early on, albeit without much luck wicket-wise, as 21 runs were scored in the opening 6 overs.
Looking to up the tempo, the Tiffin openers attempted to run a risky two and some fast hands at the bowlers’ end from Steffan Hilmy left the non-striker stranded well outside his crease. After a brief counter-attack from the new batsman, the introduction of spinner Jack Youster saw two wickets fall in quick sucession thanks to two catches by Charlie Moffatt.
Looking to steady the ship, the two new batsmen played the spin duo of Youster and Ameya Mathur carefully, as the pair bowled in tandem for 10 overs. It was the introduction of Jaipaal Ghotra, however, that created the next wicket, as the ball was chipped up to Hilmy at cover and he took a stunning low catch to reduce Tiffin to 81-4.
However, following the dismissal, Tiffin launched a powerful counter-attack as they managed to score over 50 runs off the next 6 overs in a strong display of big-hitting. Come the last over, and the score had raced to 133-4. However, opening bowler Watson kept things tight for the final six balls, conceding just four runs and knocking over the off stump with the final ball of the innings. Tiffin finished on 137-5.
Aditya Kirthivasan and Stan Amor opened up for the U15s looking to get the Hampton innings off to a strong start, as the chase required a run rate of above 5.5 an over.
After a strong start, Amor edged behind to the keeper, leaving Hampton 24-1. However, Kirthivasan and new batsman Moffatt were quick to take control of the game following the dismissal, as the latter punched two fours through the off side not long after his introduction.
Kirthivasan, meanwhile, raced along at over a run a ball, and although at times he struggled with the slowness of the pitch it didn’t stop him notching a series of boundaries on his way towards a 50.
With the score on 81, Moffatt was caught out by yet another ball sticking in the pitch, chipping a simple catch to square leg off the spinner and departing for 19.
Not long after, and Kirthivasan, benefitting from a reprieve on just 10 when he was dropped in the covers, reached his well-deserved half century. However, not long after, he struck the ball straight to mid-on, who gobbled up the chance and left Kirthivasan exiting for 55 with the score on 95-3.
Hilmy and number five Sahota were not inclined to give Tiffin a way back into the game, however. Some powerful blows from Hilmy, including a big six, and some good cricket from the captain combined to quickly push Hampton towards their target, as they secured victory in the 20th over by seven wickets. Hilmy finished on 28* and Sahota on 12*.
An important first win of the season for the U15Bs as they now move into matches against Harrow and Dulwich.
See the full match scorecard here: https://hamptonschool.play-cricket.com/website/results/6576103
