Rawreth Lane
9th May
Eastwood Under 15s  56 all out
Rayleigh Under 15AÂ Â Â Â 57-1
Rayleigh won by 9 wickets
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Eastwood 56 all out
Rayleigh 57-1
Rayleigh Win by 9 wickets
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The weekend\’s sunshine gave way to a cold and windy Rawreth Lane – is that summer been and gone already?  Steven won the toss and elected to field. There followed a strong all round bowling performance, with a mixed bag in the field. Wickets fell at regular intervals, with only one of the openers reaching double figures with a very creditable 17. Pick of the bowlers was Josh Jones with 3-3, but the wickets were shared between Matt, Conor, Alec, Steven and Tom. There were also 2 run outs from Steven and Matt – unfortunately there was also a dropped catch and a few long barriers went missing on the bumpy outfield. Eastwood totalled 56 all out off 18.5 overs.
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In reply, it looked like openers Tom and Max were going to see the side home against some enthusiastic bowling and fielding. Tom led the way with 21 before being bowled with 8 runs needed. Max made a very accomplished 13 not out and it was left to Neil to finish the game with a flourish, hitting a 6 over mid-wicket. Rayleigh had reached their target with just over 9 overs to spare.
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So a safe passage was secured into round 2 where it looks like its Basildon away. Eastwood are back at Rawreth Lane next week for the opening league match and more of the same will do nicely.
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Chris Slough