Sunday 4th September, the South Essex District Finals for u11, u13 and u15s took place at Rayleigh CC. A large contingent of family, friends and supporters from Thurrock travelled down the A13 to cheer on the Belhus CC club’s youngsters who were finalists in all three District finals, an achievement in itself!
The Belhus CC u11s, coached by Glenn Hart and his management team, were up against the much fancied Westcliff on Sea CC. For a long time Westcliff on Sea CC looked like the eventual winners, having achieved a net score of 92 in the first innings.
Thomas Loveys and Kayhan Suneel opened for Belhus u11s on the restart and fortunes ebbed and flowed until big hitters Reuben Hart and Aryan Y Patel brought Belhus u11s back into contention. Captain Vansh Mehra eventually stepped in to score a further 19 runs and take Belhus u11s to victory.
The Belhus CC Spitfires u13s, managed by Mark Ware, Ryan Worley and Baiju Mohammed were up against Rankins CC. Belhus batted first and commanding displays with the bat by Aariyan Kansagra (38 runs), Sam Hisscott (29 runs not out) and Oliver Davy (24 runs), with others pitching in, meant that Belhus made 149 runs from their 20 overs.
In the run chase, Rankins CC u13s scored 81 runs all out after 15.4 overs. Whilst the wickets were shared around equally among the Belhus u13 bowlers, special mention for both William Dawson, Captain Alfie Ware and Lewys Worley who were all excellent in the field.
The Belhus CC u15s were up against their Orsett and Thurrock neighbours. Orsett & Thurrock CC u15s batted first with Dhruv Solanki 38 runs and Kian Garrett 37 runs giving them a great start. In the end Orsett & Thurrock CC scored 150 runs and Belhus CC managed 118 runs in response.