Babes of Kent

Junior Martlets v The Babes of Kent played at Hurstpierpoint College

Babes of Kent 225 for 5 (40 overs) (Dominic Keats 2 for 27)

Junior Martlets 233 for 6 (38.2 overs) (Sam Cooper 77 no., Dominic Keats 50, Joe Ludlow 40, Ben Candfield 23)

Junior Martlets won by 4 wickets.

The Babes won the toss and elected to bat in perfect conditions. Will Wright and Fraser Coombes opened the attack and once they had found their length proved a steady pair with Wright making the initial break-through as a result of a well-judged high catch by Ben Candfield. George Read and the pace of Dominic Keats contained the batsmen along with some excellent fielding. Keats pulled off an outstanding return catch to remove the other opener. In the spin department the leg breaks of Ben Candfield restricted the batsmen while Michael Wood also made scoring difficult. So after 30 overs the score stood at 132. The batsmen then changed their mood; Michael Wood suffered and the score moved on. Keats return put a brake on affairs but the score moved on to 225 by the end of the 40 overs.

Joe Ludlow, the captain, and Dominic Keats played some excellent shots as they took the attack to the bowlers so that after 10 overs 59 runs were on the board. Ludlow’s fine display came to an end when one stopped on him and he was caught and bowled. Keats moved on to his 50 in the company of Harrie Smith. Sam Cooper then arrived to carry the team through to the end making a very fine undefeated 77. He demonstrated a real ability to hit the ball hard and with style. He was helped by Marcus Smith and Ben Candfield; between them the running between the wickets brought the target ever closer.

This was a good start to the Junior Martlet season.

John Bettridge

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