Sunday saw the visit of Sheldon Marlborough to Watery Lane in the semi-final of the Warwickshire League.

Skipper James Thorne won the toss and elected to bowl first. The start couldn't have been much better for Earls as James opened with a wicket maiden as Elliot Weir took a sharp catch behind the stumps. Amy Weir did even better in her first over as two batsmen picked out Ewan Marshall at short cover and Amy was on for another hat-trick. However, the Sheldon batsman survived but they were reeling at 0-3.

Hamza Latif led the Sheldon recovery as he decided attack was the best option and hit some lusty blows. He rode his luck with a couple of dropped catches but kept going. However, he hit one big shot too many and skied one off Amy to James at extra cover for 22.

Emily Perrin replaced Amy and was soon amongst the wickets bowling two Sheldon batsmen. Ewan replaced James and he too was successful enticing Khan into a false shot and Kishan Paw took a good catch over his head running backwards at mid-on.

The fielding was excellent throughout. We'd talked before hand about every run potentially being crucial and that proved to be the case. We chased lost causes and put our bodies on the line. Will Perrin and Jamie Edwards chased one down to the long-off boundary and a full stretch dive by Will prevented four and Jamie threw back in over the stumps. That set the mark for the others and there were some excellent stops from Arjun Hayer and Ewan and the pressure built on the Sheldon batsmen.

Jamie Martin had looked good for Sheldon since arriving at the crease and we knew we had to remove him to keep the score down. He was maneuvering the ball well around the field and keeping the scoreboard ticking along. The bowling was tight throughout though as Will Clews and Will Perrin tightened the noose with 4 overs for just 12.

James and Amy came back for the last two overs and the skipper struck twice, first removing Martin with a caught and bowled for 16 and next ball clean bowling Osbaldeston for 8. Amy's last over was again tight and Jamie made a fantastic sliding stop on the boundary to stop four and keep them to a single. They tried to run one last one off the last ball but Elliot ran out Zafar who was well short of his ground. An excellent bowling and fielding performance had restricted Sheldon to 69 off their 20 overs.

At half time we talked about being patient and only needing just over 3 an over. It was just as well as the Sheldon bowlers quickly enjoyed similar success with the ball as we had. Martin in particular was swinging the ball considerably and skittled through the top four removing Amy, Ewan and James. A mix up saw Elliot run out too and it was Earls turn to be reeling at 19-4.

Will Clews and Jamie Edwards lead the consolidation with Will in particular waiting and punishing any bad ball. He was eventually caught out hooking on the square leg boundary. Jamie kept going and continued good running between the wickets with Qasim Sohail got us within touching distance before Qasim fell for 12 which included a couple of excellent fours. Jamie fell shortly after and Arjun and Will Perrin were left to repeat their heroics at Solihull Municipal in an earlier game.

We needed 9 off the last two overs and the opener Latif returned to bowl the 19th. A couple of dots then Arjun nudged a single. Next ball was the game changer as Latif bowled a high no-ball which Will hooked for four down to fine leg as the Earls crowd erupted. Two more singles off the last two balls and we needed one more run off the last over. There was still time for more drama as Arjun pushed for a single but just failed to get home. Kishan joined Will who was on strike needing a single and as a bit of an anti-climax the bowler pushed one down leg for a wide and victory for Earlswood in a great game of cricket.

Every player gave their all and kept going all the way to the end. As importantly the game was played in good spirit considering the tension and both teams were a credit to their clubs.

MOM: James Thorne - bowled as well as he has all season and took two good catches. Also lead the team well and was constantly encouraging the batsmen.

FOM: Jamie Edwards - there were a number of candidates for this but Jamie's double chase with Will Perrin saved two and his sliding stop on the boundary saved three more without which we could have been chasing five extra which could have proved elusive.

Champagne moment: Will Perrin - The hook off the opening bowler for four down to long leg saw us home.

Click here for scorecard.

The final will take place next Sunday and sees us get an opportunity for revenge against Studley who beat us earlier in the competition. Location still to be confirmed.

Earlswood Cricket Club

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