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The first match in sub 30 degrees heat for the U19 side in 2024 made a nice change, however the state of the Sano riverside ground (1D) left a lot to be desired with 6 inch high grass and a cover of dead wet grass cuttings on much of the pitch. The ground condition would be reflected in the scores for both sides, which were lower than normal as boundaries were hard to come by. Both teams fielded 9 players.
After winning the toss the Lions chose to bat with Taiga and Kirren opening. The runs came steadily if slowly as the conditions meant lots of running for singles, and by the 9th over the pair had put 44 runs on the board. MIB didn`t get their first wicket until the end of the 9th over, with Taiga bowled for a total of 10. Kirren fell in the 12th over, caught for a total of 22, Pratyush partnered with Eric until he was bowled in the 14th over, then Eric and Nived stayed until the end, with both scoring more freely as they fought for a target of 100. In the end they made 102 by the end of the 19th over, then threw the bat at everything in the last over and got the total up to 120 including three boundaries (there were only 5 boundaries in the innings).
When MIB`s turn to bat came they were tested from the first ball by the Lions openers Eric and Kirren, only managing to score 2 runs from the bat on the first 3 overs. Then at the start of the 4th over the opening batsman was caught behind by Taiga to give Kiren his first wicket. Eric took the other openers wicket at the start of the next over, then followed a period of calm whilst the MIB batters held on against the Lions bowling attack. A wicket from Sam in the 10th over was the signal for the start of a collapse, with the 4th wicket falling to Juto in the 11th (with a high, loopy ball completely bamboozling the batsman) and 2 wickets falling to Mantra in the 12th. Kirren took the 7th wicket in the 13th over with the final wicket a runout executed by Eric and Taiga in the 14th. At the end of their innings MIB only had 55 on the board; the Lions winning by 65 runs.
Stats: Highest scoring batsman : Eric (29), best batting strike rate : Eric (121), most wickets: Kirren & Mantra (2 each), best bowling economy : Pratyush (1.2)
Player of the Match: Kirren
Team: Eric Harrison, Ethan Williams, Juto Ball, Kirren Hollow, Mantra Joshi, Nived Namibar, Pratyush Bist, Sam Robinson, Taiga Hague (Wicket Keeper & Captain)
