Galleywood U15s were back in action at home to Great Waltham on a glorious sunny evening. Waltham won the toss and opted to bat first. The Waltham openers got their team off to a strong start. Lucas C bowled very economically as usual, and Oscar S caused a few problems. No wickets fell in the opening 4 overs, but the opening batters were starting to accelerate, and a few boundaries helped their cause. Adam W was the next to bowl, sending down very accurate deliveries and offering little width. However, it was Charlie D who made the breakthrough with his first ball, with Toby B taking an excellent catch at point. One opener had fallen, but the other continued to cause trouble, aided by a calamitous drop from the skipper behind the stumps. A smart over from Leo G slowed their progress, including an excellent ball to dismiss the Waltham number 3. Then it was over to Ekansh B and as always, he secured what we were looking for in the wicket of the other opener. After this wicket fell, Galleywood felt back on top. Wickets continued to fall and despite a couple of good contributions from Waltham batters, it was shaping up to be a chasable total. Great spells from Alex W and Henry M further stemmed their progress. An excellent finish from Lucas C and Ekansh left Galleywood needing 89 to win.
Toby B and Leo G went out to open the batting. However, Galleywood suffered an early setback, with a brilliant catch from the Waltham opening bowler dismissing Toby without score. In at 3 was Oscar S, the crowd knew what was about to happen. He and Leo set off chasing the total down in aggressive fashion, with a flurry of boundaries from both batsmen, including a powerful 6 rocketing into the road by Oscar, resulting in a short delay whilst the ball was located. But the fun had to end eventually, with Oscar getting out in bizarre fashion by stepping onto his own stumps for an entertaining 22. Matt H went out to bat with the team requiring 39 to win. Leo continued looking to score quickly, with Matt supporting him. But a few overs later, Matt too fell to another caught and bowled by the Waltham opening bowler. In next was Ekansh B to join Leo. Shortly after however, Leo was eventually bowled for a very well built 24. Harry B came in at 5, and got off the mark with a great hit down to square leg for a 2. But next ball, he was bowled. Galleywood were closing in on victory, and Ekansh secured it, carrying the team home with 3 well struck boundaries.
Galleywood win by 5 wickets!
Full scorecard can be found here: https://galleywoodcc.play-cricket.com/website/results/4863080