THEY’VE done it! After 13 matches spanning two years, Grayswood’s under-19s have won their first match in the ECB Blast.
And the Grayswood Guns did it the hard way, after losing a player to work commitments before the match.
They rattled up 147 for nine from their 20 overs, before restricting Bagshot to 124 for seven.
Bagshot surprisingly elected to field and Grayswood’s Stephen Nathan, called into the team at lunchtime, took advantage of the fielding restrictions, making 34 off 20 deliveries.
Stephen took full advantage of a short leg-side boundary and launched his bat at almost every delivery – and four sixes later he had set the tone for a huge total.
The initial run rate was too good to maintain, but Ben Twyford, with an unbeaten 56 off 35 deliveries, matched Stephen’s hitting with straight drives into a tree inside the boundary for multiple boundaries.
Will Cresswell (19 off 23) and Max Beckett (12 off 12) also made important contributions.
Bagshot started their reply in express fashion with three boundaries in the first over, but accurate Grayswood bowling from then on turned the tide.
Kent Chapman (2-14), Max Beckett (2-13), Paddy Soper
(1-27), John Twyford (1-11), Will Cresswell (1-10) the risk of batting under gloomy skies was a challenge beyond Bagshot, as captain Kent Chapman marshalled his nine bowlers intelligently.
Grayswood enjoyed a 23-run winning margin and a first victory after a run of seven defeats, four concessions and one rain-abandoned match since joining the competition in 2018.