Cricket Match Reports against Ardvreck
Belhaven put on 7 home cricket matches involving 115 Belhaven pupils against teams from Ardvreck
Girls' KwikCricket
2nd Team
Belhaven 246 – Ardvreck 256
The seconds team arrived at Ardvreck in great spirits and keen to show the progress they have made with both their bowling and batting. Sienna captained the team today and chose for Belhaven to field first. Some lovely straight bowling from Liv and Sienna to start the game, allowed some easy hits for the Ardvreck batters, but also some difficult balls to hit, limiting their scores.
Louise and Blanca were next to bowl their overs and again, just a couple of wide balls this over gave away runs and some very straight balls were difficult to hit. Maya then had a super bowling over with only a couple of runs being scored. Some wide balls from Charlotte and Iona in their bowling over gave away some more runs, boosting the Ardvreck score a little, whilst in the final two overs from Victoire and Camille, the last ball bowled from Camille went straight at the stumps to end the over. At the end of their batting innings, Ardvreck were on 256.
The Belhaven girls knew that this would be a tough score to beat but they certainly went for it. Liv and Sienna started the batting and between them scored a mix of 4s and single runs to start off with 21 runs between them.
Victoire and Camille were the next pair to bat and again some single runs and a 4 from Camille was super, until one of the batters hit their own stumps to reduce the score by 5!
Iona started off the next batting partnership with Charlotte scoring a 4 and between them they managed a few more single runs until the same happened as with the last pair, a batter hit their own stumps whilst swinging the bat – another 5 points taken off!
Maya was next into bat, partnering with a girl from Ardvreck as we were a player short. Again, having accumulated a good score, the stumps were hit by the bat for a third time!
Our last batting pair saved some of the best shots until the end of the game. A 4 and even a 6 in this from both Blanca and Louise and our score looked promising and so close, until one of the batters swung the bat to high and clipped the stumps. 4 times in the match in total with a loss of 20 runs – this could have made all the difference.
What a difference in your bowling and batting today. Some straight bowling and some amazing batting has shown how much you have improved this term.
Well done to Louise for being Ardvreck’s girl of the match!
Three stars and a wish from today:
The great 6 from Louise
An amazing 21 runs from Sienna and Liv
The final wicket of the game from Camille
Try not to hit the stumps when batting!
U11A
The sun was shining this Wednesday afternoon as the U11As took on Ardvreck in a great afternoon of Kwik-Cricket. The girls played on the main cricket square and the pitch had a boundary, a little bigger than they were used to, which made for an exciting and challenging match.
Belhaven batted in the first innings with Daisy and Pom scoring a four each. The girls communicated well and took a little more risk, which paid off in terms of runs scored. Unfortunately, Ardvreck managed to get two of our players out with some impressive catches and another with a wicket. The first innings ended with Belhaven scoring 244.
Next was Belhaven’s turn at fielding. Ardvreck had some impressive batters (not sure if this is a word), so Belhaven had to work very hard to field effectively. There was some excellent bowling from Belhaven and Pom managed to catch Ardvreck out with an excellent catch. As Belhaven entered the second innings the score was close - Belhaven 244 and Ardvreck 248. Daisy once again scored another two 4s but impressive bowling from the opposition made for a tough innings with four wickets catching Belhaven out.
Due to injury in the opposition team, out last pair of batters didn’t get to bat in this innings which was a shame. Maggie and Wendy started the second innings' string with two wickets in the first over, however some impressive batting from Ardvreck meant that Ardvreck quickly increased their lead.
The final score was 266-284 to Ardvreck. The score didn’t reflect the match play. The girls worked well as a team, put a huge amount of energy into the match and should be proud of their performance. Daisy was the person of the match – well done Daisy!
U9 Teams
U9 Stars
We had a wonderful day of cricket against Ardvreck; the sun shone down and there was a lovely aroma of freshly cut grass (Thank you Mr Townshend).
We batted first and hit some great shots. Our captain for the day, Isabella, scored 2 fours. Mimi and Alice also found the boundary to push up our total. We were a bit nervous and so missed a few opportunities for some quick runs.
Ardvreck batted next and were very good at running up lots of singles. Chloe was our star fielder getting two catches and an amazing wicket. Unfortunately, Ardvreck’s last pair hit a six and a number of fours which meant that they crept ahead. The girls did so well and should all be proud of how much they have learnt this term.
Player of the match – Isabella
U9 Rockets
This was the first cricket match for the girls so there were quite a few nerves. Cricket is also not something the girls know well yet, so it was very much a learning experience for them too.
Sylvia, our captain, won the toss and chose for us to field first. The girls batted and fielded in pairs. Our first bowling pair was Sylvia and Mary who did a brilliant job. After 2 overs, Ardvreck had scored 5 runs. The next 2 overs were very strong for Ardvreck, with a 6 and a 4 being scored. Lara and Clara had a brilliant bowling over with Ardvreck only scoring 1 run. Delphine and Heidi were the last to bowl and they did very well and even got 1 wicket.
We then went into bat, which we found quite difficult. We are looking to work on our decision making as there were some opportunities where we could have run. However, this can be difficult to judge, and they will become braver, the more familiar they are with the game. Our top scorers were Flora and Delphine scoring 3 runs and Clara scoring 5 runs including a 4.
Final score: 218 to Ardvreck and 204 to Belhaven.
Star player: Clara R
A great start to the season, and the girls all really enjoyed it!
Boys' Cricket
1st XI
This week the boys found themselves travelling to Ardvreck for their first 11 a-side away fixture of the year. After a long journey up we got straight into things, the sun was shining and Ardvreck won the toss and chose to bowl.
Beetle and Eck strode to the crease. This week we were playing on an Astro strip which brought a new challenge of bounce and pace into the game. Eck and Beetle were facing two bowlers bowling quickly. After 3 overs, unfortunately, they were both out to good balls.
Alfie and Johnny were now in, facing some tricky bowling they rotated the strike well, Alfie made an important 12 runs off of 16 balls.
After 8 overs we were 38-2. Sam strode to the crease, Johnny kept pushing on but boundaries were hard to come by as the outfield was very lush. They both started to find the middle of the bat, resulting in the pair of them hitting 11 fours between them. We got to the last over and Johnny found himself on 43, the bowler bowled him a full toss which Johnny proceeded to nail over mid-wicket for 6 runs. Next ball a quick single and Johnny was our first batsmen of the year to reach a half-century. Sam finished on a very well played 28.
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We finished our first innings on 119-4.
A good score on the board and after a delicious match tea we got back into things. Alfie and Ted opened the bowling and both batsmen looked comfortable until Alfie cramped one of them up, forcing him to chip it up back to Alfie. Ardvreck’s number 3 was looking very good and kept hitting the ball hard. We stayed alert and Alfie was involved again with a run out and another wicket from his bowling. But Ardvreck’s number 3 kept pushing on and after 12 overs they were 76-4.
However, it all turned when the batsmen tried to run a quick single to Beetle's fumble and ran number 3 out on 39, a huge wicket. Jamie bowled his 4 overs straight through going for only 20 runs. Harry and Campbell both bowling important overs.
The wickets then came after some good pressure, a run out from Alfie again, a run out from Wilf and amazingly Wilf bowled 1.3 overs finishing with figures of 3-3!
In the end a convincing win bowling out Ardvreck for 81.
Thank you to parents and grandparents who came and supported.
Well done boys!
Final Score: Belhaven win by 38 runs
Player of the Match: Johnny – 50 from 55 balls.
U9A
U-9 boys win comfortably again, this time against Ardvreck
After last week’s washout against Fettes, it was good to be able to get back on the grass again this week. We welcomed Ardvreck U9a team and from the off played some good, attacking cricket as Ardvreck were put into bat. Ben took two clean-bowled wickets in the first over and three overs later Oak forced a smart run out off his own bowling. In the next over Innes also took two clean-bowled wickets leaving Ardvreck on only 10 runs from 36 balls. Ben then had another batsman caught (by Leo) with a very confident catch and the Alexander forced a good catch from Xander, who almost dropped it by bumping into his own teammate. Archie then took a neat, assured catch off William’s bowling before a final flurry of wickets, two from Archie’s over, one caught by Innes, the second a good run-out by Ben and finally Innes presented Archie with another catchable chance which he did not miss.
So after Ardvreck’s innings I felt we were well on top, and save for a couple of dropped catches, we had all but dominated the visitors.
First Innings: Ardvreck 43 for 11 from 16 overs.
In reply Belhaven Archie and Ben opened the batting in our innings, scoring 27 between them for the sole loss of Archie’s wicket, his being caught. Oak and Alexander moved the score on by 16 runs at the cost of two wickets; Oak hitting his own and then a miscommunication between the two batsmen leaving Oak run-out.
Xander and Innes were up next and added a further 22 runs, Xander uncharacteristically hitting his own wicket but also notching a creditable 16 runs, and Innes clean bowled just once. The best was saved till the end though, with Leo and William putting on a real treat for us, as William walloped a huge 39 runs from just 14 balls – nearly as much as the total for the entire Ardvreck team – Leo and him being run-out on the very last delivery only.
Second Innings: Belhaven 123 for 6 from 16 overs.
Stats:
Wickets: Ben, Innes (3), Alexander, William, Innes (1).
Catches: Archie (2), Xander, Leo, Innes.
Run-outs: Oak, Ben.
Stumpings: -
Runs: William 39 (no loss of wicket), Alexander 13, Xander 11 (1 wicket lost), Ben 10, Leo 5 (1), Archie 3 (1), Innes -1 (1), Oak -8 (2).
Well played everyone!
Man of the Match: Despite Ben’s three wicket haul and confident batting the gong goes to William for his gazumping style of batting.
Result: Belhaven U9 boys win by 80 runs.
U9B
Belhaven 61 – 35 Ardvreck
An idyllic day at Belhaven saw an entertaining cricket match in which the focus was very much on sportsmanship, making new friends and gaining a greater understanding of the game. Swinging a cricket bat and bowling with a straight arm are quite alien concepts when starting out in the sport, but the boys did fantastically well and entertained the spectators with wickets bowled, run-outs and boundaries made.
Belhaven opened the batting and every member of the team scored good runs. Kasper and Harry led from the front picking up good runs with sensible calling and quick running between the creases. Aubrey and Dougal as the second pairing hit four boundaries in one over to increase the run rate and Atticus and Oak finished the innings well to reach a total of 61.
After a quick break it was Belhaven’s time to field, with each member of the team having two overs as a bowler and two as a wicket keeper. Harry took 3 wickets, Kasper one and Leo another to make a real dent in the Ardvreck scoreboard. Bowling consistently well is a skill that needs practice. They all gave it a very good go today, which ultimately ensured the Belhaven victory.
