U11s lose out to Churt Blues in another final over thriller

Elstead arrived at Churt on a sunny summer evening,to play against the home side's Blue team in their final match of the season.
Churt won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch with short boundaries and a fast outfield.Elstead's bowling was not as potent as usual,with too many short pitched balls allowing Churt to get off to a flying start. Churt had reached 73 for the loss of just 1 wicket after 12 overs,when Elstead applied the brakes and the next 4 overs saw 3 wickets fall for the addition of just 6 runs. However,this brought Churt's undefeated top order batsmen back for a second knock,and they plundered 44 runs from the final 4 overs to take Churt to a challenging 123 for 5 from their 20 overs. Will R picked up 2 wickets,with 1 apiece for Mark B, Jack S and Archie W.
Elstead's reply started strongly and after 9 overs they were up with required rate at 57 for 3.However,3 consecutive maidens which included 2 wickets,left Elstead requiring nearly 9 runs per over for the last 8 overs.Elstead put in a charge,but the challenge proved to be just too much, and they finished on 115 for 9 after 20 overs,losing by 8 runs.The pick of the batsmen were Sam H with 35 not out and Jack S who scored a season high 26 not out. Will R and Will B also provided useful contributions.
Despite the disappointment of losing the match,this has been a strong and interstingly symmetrical season for the Under 11s. They won their home and away matches against Grayswood,Headley and Churt Reds,but lost home and away to Hambledon and Churt Blues. Both Will R and Sam H ended up with records of 3 wins and 2 losses in their half-season stints as captains.Overall this was a good season,with all players showing improvement and hopefully having fun!