Armidale under 12s rep cricketers had their first win of the season against Tamworth, in Tamworth, last weekend. Winning the toss and electing to field, Armidale were looking for early wickets on a pitch providing variable bounce.
“We’ve claimed two or three early wickets in every game so far and this pitch was looking good for our bowlers; the boys were glad to win the toss and field,” said Coach Michael Dennis.
On a day when everything seemed to go to plan, Armidale had Tamworth at 6 for 66 after their first 20 overs. In reply, despite only scoring 62 runs before lunch, Armidale were fairly confident having lost only 3 wickets. This confidence was evident in their bowling attack after the lunch break as they ripped through the remainder of the Tamworth batsmen who could only last another 6 overs.
Tamworth’s coach commented that this was the first time this season his team had been bowled out. Henry Sindel claimed 3 wickets off just 2.2 overs with wickets also to Tao Grieves, Gwynne Beynon, Kieran Dennis, Sam Jeyakumar and Daniel Boyd.
“The bowling was good,” said Michael Dennis. “But the real standout improvement in this game for our team was their fielding. They stopped everything and were really alert and keen to prevent every run. Callum Ferguson held onto a difficult catch, and Daniel Boyd took a superb slips catch which was quite something to behold.”
Armidale were able to chase down Tamworth’s total of 90 quite easily without losing anymore wickets and reaching their target before the end of the 30th over. Kieran Dennis (not out 30) was well supported by Sam Jeyakumar (not out 13) who played a good innings. “The pair communicated really well. They ran well between the wickets taking lots of quick singles, but batting sensibly, and in the end reached the target quite easily. It was great for the boys to get a win this time.”
