The Weston Super Mare Wizards came to Hobbs Lane on Monday hoping to cast a spell over the Barrow Gurney Under 15 team as they have so often in the past.
Batting first Weston lost an early wicket to Frazier Thomas before J Press and Sapra steadied the ship taking the score to 43 in the tenth over. Jackson Bryant then had Sapra well caught by Ben Mead for 23, Kieran Owen followed by taking a catch to dismiss Press again off Bryant for 17 and when Tilsey fell also to Bryant, Weston were 50-4 in the 12th over and seemingly struggling. Bryant’s 4overs 3-18 were the best bowling figures but he was well supported by accurate bowling at the other end. Kieran Owen bowled 4 overs for only 7 runs, Mark Fisher bowled his four for 18 and Frazier Thomas ended with 1-23 off his full four.
Bailey and Chambers batted sensibly and ensured that Weston batted out their overs but without ever fully dominating the attack. Weston closed the innings on 100 for 5 with keeper Bernie Forge running out the non-striker off the final ball of the innings.
A good start was imperative against a traditionally strong team, and when Guy Fisher fell without scoring, there were brief moments of alarm. Bernie Forge (42 not out) set herself to bat through the innings, whilst Jackson Bryant tried to take the attack to the bowlers. Despite some extremely accurate bowling from Chambers (4 overs for 8 runs) and occasional sharp spin from Ahmed, the Barrow pair put on 75 for the second wicket. Jackson hit some powerful shots over the covers, used the pace of the bowlers to find the third man boundary and dealt severely with anything on his legs hitting 7 fours before being dismissed by D Press attempting to clear the field once more. After playing in the middle overs to try and give her partner the strike, Bernie then moved up a gear to almost clear the boundary at the Fox & Goose end and finally to hit the winning runs with 9 balls to spare, hitting 6 fours in all. Of Barrow’s 103 for 3 the only runs off the bat were from the 2nd wicket pair, the remainder being extras.
A good win for Barrow as they look forward to playing Blagdon next week.