Match reports.
Yorkshire U13A 206-6 (Sabir Mahmood 100, Tom Burton 31) lost to Gloucestershire U13 207-6 by 4 wickets.
Yorkshire made the long trip to Bristol to take on a strong Gloucestershire U13 side who had only lost one game all season.
On winning the toss, Gloucestershire inserted Yorkshire at the beautiful Bishopston CC ground. After a slow start, where Rohan Ratnalingam (14) and Joshua Hen-Boisen (8) found the going tough, Yorkshire were soon in trouble with the score 42-2 after 14.5 overs. However, a solid partnership between Sabir Mahmood and Tom Burton saw the innings progress, although at a steady rate, until Burton fell for a well made 33. Tom Wood, making his debut this season, and Jack Redshaw both supported Mahmood, while never really dominating. Mahmood falling in the final over of the innings for an accomplished, stylish 100. Yorkshire closing on 206-6 in their 45 overs. A good score but probably 20 to 30 runs short on an extremely fast outfield.
In reply, Gloucestershire got off to a quick start against some wayward bowling and below standard fielding. The introduction of Redshaw and Jawad Akhtar slowed the run rate but at drinks (22 overs). Gloucestershire were 90-0. After a few home truths, Yorkshire came out showing more aggression. The introduction of Hen-Boisen, in partnership with Akhtar, immediately paid dividends with both removing the openers. The spin twins pegged back the scoring. Akhtar bowling his 9 overs, taking 1-15 and Hen-Boisen 2-24. Burton took a wicket but none of the seamers really threatened with untypical wide bowling allowing the Gloucestershire batsmen to keep up with the required run rate. The Gloucestershire keeper, Landale, proved to be the thorn in Yorkshire’s side, running between the wickets well and hitting some powerful blows. In a real tense game of cricket, Landale (51*) saw Gloucestershire home in the final over.
A great game of cricket with many lessons learnt.
Wales U13A 214 all out (Hamish Firth 4-10) beat Yorkshire 146 all out (Leo Wilson 40, Tom Burton 30) by 68 runs.
Yorkshire made the short trip from their base in Bristol, across the The River Severn, to the village of Sudbrook to play their rearranged game against Wales U13s.
On winning the toss, Wales chose to bat first on a green but hard track. Finlay Hill and Louie Owens bowled much better than the previous day but it was a direct hit run out from Leo Wilson that made the initial break through. Thereafter, wickets were hard to find, with the Wales batsmen looking at ease on a good batting track and fast outfield. Jack Redshaw, captaining the team for the day, took the pace off the ball by introducing Jawad Akhter and Joshua Hen-Boisen into the attack. However, neither looked as threatening as the previous day. At 85-3, Noah Rice came to the wicket for Wales and immediately changed the tempo of the innings. Rice played with total freedom, hitting the ball to all parts of the ground with placement and power. The introduction of Wilson finally made the breakthrough with Wilson taking the crucial wicket of Rice, caught on the deep mid wicket boundary for 69 off only 47 balls. Thereafter, the innings fell away, with Hamish Firth picking up 4-10 from a fast, hostile spell. Wales ending on 214. Fifty or sixty short of what could have been!
In reply, Noah Chapman fell in the second over, but Leo Wilson joined fellow North Regional player Redshaw, and the two started to penetrate the field. Wilson, in his first bat of the year, caressing 9 boundaries in his 40 off 34 balls. However, Redshaw and Wilson departed in quick succession. It was left to Akhtar (15) and Firth (21) to repair the damage. However, the innings never really got the impetus required and Yorkshire meandered to 109-7 after 30 overs. Tom Burton (30) in partnership with Hill (22) tried to get Yorkshire closer to their target but both fell in quick succession, leaving Yorkshire 68 runs short of victory.
A disappointing couple of results but the realisation that all members of the squad need to up their games to compete at this level.
Durham 194 all out (Jawad Akhtar 3-17) lost to Yorkshire U13 195-2 (Noah Kelly 112*, Sabir Mahmood 39) by 8 wickets.
Yorkshire then made the trip north to play Durham at Eppleton CC.
On winning the toss, Durham took first use of a good looking track but lost both openers, caught close in, to opening bowler Louie Owens. Thereafter followed an untidy spell both with the ball and in the field - Durham's number 3 and 4 finding conditions to their liking. Badu (39) and captain, Hopkins, taking the score from 9-2 to 99 before Basu was dismissed. Jawad Akhtar continued his good spell of slow bowling taking 3-17 combined with an improvement in the ground fielding and some excellent catching. Durham subsiding from 99-2 to 194 all out with their captain, Hopkins, left stranded on 95* with over 2 overs left.
After tea, Noah Kelly and Sabir Mahmood set about chasing the target. Batting seemed much easier with these two at the crease. Both ran well between the wickets, placing the ball into the gaps combined with some well struck boundaries. Mahmood fell lbw for 39. Tom Wood (7) added with Kelly, before Rohan Ratnalingam (12*) joined Kelly to see Yorkshire to a comprehensive 8 wicket victory. Kelly completed his third century of the season, showing exquisite placement and timing with his shots.