ECC 1st XI vs Ifield 2nd XI

Skipper Andy lost the toss on a used wicket from the previous friendly and Eastergate were stuck into bat by the opposition.

New signing Liam and Joey opened the batting for the gate but after a questionable bit of decision making from Joey he shortly departed in the 3rd over for only 1 run. This brought to the crease Henry who battled hard with Liam to get through the early overs of the game. Liam then departed after a good stumping from the wicket keeper after making 14. Curtis then came walking out to the middle for his first run out of the season. Curt and Henry fought well and both managed to get their eye in and after some hard work at the beginning of the innings Henry brought up his 50 but shortly after making the 100 partnership Curt got bowled for a good looking 38. Another new signing in Brad came to the crease fresh after his 83* in the previous friendly I’m sure he was hoping for the same to happen again this week. Again Henry continued to punish the Ifield bowling and retired on 100* off 95 balls hitting 8 fours and 6 sixes. He once again helped create a 50 partnership with Brad. Once Henry retired Aaron walked out to bat to join Brad in the middle but shortly after this Brad got given out LBW after making a quick 43, a good start for him in his Eastergate career. The skipper then accompanied Aaron at the crease before the joint bar manager got dismissed for 10. Harvey then came walking out too bat from Reed corner as it it known down by the nets. Himself and Andy fell just short of creating a 50 partnership as Andy was caught for a quick fire 25. Another new signing who has returned to the club Jamie came out for the last ball of the innings and ended it with a single with Eastergate finishing on 277-6 after 40 overs Harvey 19*, Jamie 1*

The Ifield batting innings got off to the best possible start for the gate as centurion Henry got the better of the Ifield opener removing him for a golden duck. Ifield stuck together after this early breakthrough as the other opener and wicket keeper put on a 78 run partnership but a smart bit of fielding off his own bowling saw Jamie remove the Ifield wicket keeping from the non strikers end with a much delight to some of the Eastergate players. This then brought the Ifield youngster to the crease who batted well with good technique and they manage to put on a partnership of 66 before the young gun was removed by Eli LBW. Brothers Eli and Fergus both bowled well together throughout the middle overs. The Ifield opener then brought up a well earned 100* and retired to give his teammates a chance to bat. Then Harvey picked up the rest of our 6 wickets with 2 being bowled and the other caught at short midwicket by Jamie.

Overall great team performance with both the bat and ball hopefully the team can continue this form into the league season that begins next weekend at home to Crawley CC.

Special mentions: Henry Grant - 100* and 1-41, Harvey Reed 19* and 3-46, Jamie Murphy economy of 1.83 and good in the field, Brad 43, Curt 38 and Eli 1-31

#Upthegate