Thanet U17

Match Report

Thanet U17 is a new fixture this season, and presented fairly gentle opposition with two girls and a very junior U17, but they fielded with enthusiastic determination, and held every catch. Batting first, the Stragglers started with confidence, and kept on applying the pressure. Charlie Munton and Mark Healy fell in the twenties (Mark to a nine year old leg spinner, who set the perfect trap), but this only brought Charlie McLeod and Simon Allport together, and they put on 80 in 12 overs. Not to be out done, Olla Tennant and Tom Wood joined in, only falling in the last over, leaving Jamie Lavers on 0 not out without facing a ball. Olla and Tom did not make life easy for themselves with their running between the wickets, at one point both heading side by side in the same direction. The innings was declared at 244 for 7.

With Olla and the Chairman due at the Gulbenkian, there was pressure for a swift finish. The Thanet openers clearly felt much the same, smashing 68 of the first 10 overs. However, Patrick Mitchell brought them back to earth with some ferocious pace with a wicket caught off a helmet ricochet, and another back in the pavilion for surgery. Jamie Lavers and Charlie Munton extracted surprising bounce off a length, and dented a few helmets more, and the wickets continued to fall. Mark’s nemesis was run out by his partner, and the girls blocked briefly, but it was all over soon enough at 128 all out.