THANK you to everyone who supported our Staff vs Old Eleans Cricket Fixture and 1st XI vs Old Eleans Match, both on the field and on the side line!
Below are two match reports written by Alex Meddle, Head of Cricket at King’s Ely.
King’s Ely Staff vs Old Eleans, June 24th
The historic King’s Ely Staff XI vs Old Eleans XI game took place on what was a perfect sunny evening for cricket! The toss resulted in the Old Eleans opting to bat first, hoping to set a challenging score for the staff to chase. King’s staff started strongly with the ball after only conceding 12 runs off the first 5 overs, with both C. Hall and M. Batty picking up a wicket a piece. The Old Eleans then started to struggle to accelerate their score significantly as the highest score came from their number 3 batsman, A. Knowles, who top scored with only 11. This was down to an impressive tight bowling display, particularly from H. Palmer, with figures of 3-14 off 4 overs and A. Meddle, with an impressive 4 wicket haul of his 2 overs at the end, which included only going for 4 runs. The Old Eleans then finished on a total of 68 after being bowled out in the 17th over, which meant it was then down to King’s Staff to take control of the game and try to get off to a strong start to reach the score with no real concern.
However, this certainly was not the case early on as Old Elean openers S. Boon and B. Marshall really took the first few overs into their own hands after picking up wickets in quick succession. King’s’ top 6 batters were not able to make double figures which put lots of pressure on the lower order to then try reach the total. H. Palmer was then able to show some form of promise by rotating the strike and hitting the boundary but then after falling for 13 it was down to King’s’ remanding batsmen to tick the scoreboard along. Luckily for King’s, both A. Meddle and D. Grapes showed resilience at the end by batting time and rotating the strike on what became a tricky pitch to bat on and managed to win the game in the 19th over! Meddle finishing on 9 off 30 and Grapes 8 off 20 enabled King’s to just get over the line on which certainly created a nail-biting finish!
Images by Jess Harding (Year 12 student), Molly Whymark (Old Elean), Nicholas Marshall (Year 10 student) and Simon Blake (Head of Marketing)
King’s Ely 1st XI vs Old Eleans, June 25th
The 1st XI side enjoyed a competitive match against the Old Eleans on Saturday afternoon in what was a 30 overs per side fixture. After winning the toss and bowling first, it was important for King’s to start strong and they managed to do just that, bowling consistent areas that were hard to put away in the first 10 overs. They then continued this bowling form and had the Eleans 53-1 at the 15-over drinks break. Old Elean batters B. Marshall and C. Hall then built a solid partnership that started to set a platform to then accelerate their team’s score. This partnership then came to an end meaning it was down to Old Elean incoming batters to kick on the score and reach a defendable total. Elean number 4 batsman, T. Stiff was able to do this by rotating the strike and hitting a few boundaries and after he was dismissed, Eleans’ lower order were not able to reach double figures apart from S. Blake who managed to chip in with 12 off 16 balls at the end. Eleans then finished their innings on 130-6 which set an achievable score for King’s to chase with.
King’s’ openers got off to a shaky start with W. Shaw being dismissed for a two ball duck, but S. Barber managed to take the game to Old Eleans’ openers, displaying some impressive shots around the ground which set the platform. He was then dismissed for a quick 30, meaning it was down to King’s’ middle order to then build a partnership to take control of the game. King’s number 3 and number 4 batters’ C. Marshall and D. Millard managed to do just that by running well between the wickets and hitting boundaries when they were required. They managed to put on 54 in the middle overs before confusion struck which resulted in Marshall being ran out for 46! It was then down to Millard to kick on the score despite this error and he impressively did this, striking the ball well and finishing on 37 off 53 balls with the help of King’s number 6 batsman, T. Jackson who hit a boundary to win the game in the 29th over!