Scorecard

Belhus Cricket Club Hurricanes (Softball) v Belhus Fireflies (Softball) on Sun 06 Aug 2023 at 09:30
Match was Tied

Match report On a morning where rain threatened the fixture between the Belhus Hurricanes and the Belhus Fireflies, a late call was made to keep the game on - and a good job it was too, as what followed proved to be the most exciting game of the Hurricanes season!

Ava Thompson captained the Fireflies, while Benjamin Webb captained the Hurricanes. Ava won the toss for the Fireflies and put the Hurricanes into bat.

Yahya Shahbaz - playing his first game for the Hurricanes - opened the batting with Aaron Mansfield. While not many runs came off the bat, their partnership provided a solid start - 22 runs from the first four overs.
[22 runs, 4 overs]

The second Hurricanes batting pair of Arthur Saleem and Ethan Lucey almost matched the first pair, putting on 21 runs from their four overs.
[43 runs, 8 overs]

Then the Fireflies fought back with some tight bowling from Ruby Allsop-Cadby and Ava Thompson, restricting the third Hurricanes batting pair (Leonardo Picconi and Oscar Cowdrey-Martinez) to just 9 runs from their four overs - Ava finished with excellent figures of 2 wickets for 5 runs off her two overs.
[52 runs, 12 overs]

The Hurricanes' fourth batting pair was George Hill and Raghavan Muthukumar, and brought about the much anticipated "battle of the Hills" - big sister Sophie bowling at little brother George. The first ball was a dot ball, Sophie smiling as she returned to her bowling mark, but George didn't have to wait long to get his own back as he struck the second ball of the over for 4 to register the first boundary of the innings, much to his sister's chagrin. Raghavan then struck a boundary of his own later in the same over. Bella Rees - Sophie's bowling partner - bowled a tight 14th over, giving away just 5 runs and taking a wicket. Sophie then followed up with another tight over going for only 4 runs. Bella finished her spell by conceding just 5 runs in her second over - Sophie and Bella's four overs went for a total of 21 runs.
[73 runs, 16 overs]

The final batting pair of Aryan Pokhriyal and Benjamin Webb had the task of finishing the Hurricanes innings, and they started well by hitting 10 of the 17th over, however, Ethan Brown bowled an excellent 18th over giving away a miserly 2 runs. The 19th over bowled by Alfie Saunders went for 8 runs before Ethan finished the innings by bowling the only maiden of the game. The Hurricanes ended up with a respectable total of 293 (200 + [111-18]).
[93 runs, 20 overs. Total 293).

The Hurricanes started their defence in the perfect way when Yahya Shahbaz took a wicket with his first ball. Bowling in tandem with Aaron Mansfield, the pair conceded just 14 runs from the opening four overs, giving the Hurricanes a strong start.
[14 runs (target 94), 4 overs]

Next up to bowl were Athur Saleem and Ethan Lucey, who conceded 34 runs from their four overs - all but two of the runs coming from extras. This handed the Fireflies some much needed impetus.
[48 runs (target 94), 8 overs]

Next in to bat for the Fireflies were Ruby Allsop-Cadby and Ava Thompson, facing the bowling pair of Leonardo Picconi and Oscar Cowdrey-Martinez. The Fireflies maintained their momentum by hitting 23 runs off the next four overs, including a wonderfully struck boundary from the bat of Ava.
[71 runs (target 94), 12 overs]

Then came an eventful 13th over when George Hill bowled at his sister Sophie and her batting partner Bella Rees - after a dot ball first-up, George thought he claimed the prize wicket of Sophie when she smashed a full-toss to mid-wicket where Ethan Lucey took a brilliant catch. However, the ball was too high when it reached the batter and the square leg umpire called a no-ball - the Hurricanes celebrations were cut short and George's elation soon turned to disappointment. Two balls later George was guilty of another no-ball for height but this time Sophie took full advantage and smashed the ball to the leg-side boundary for 4. George was fast becoming despondent, but he used the negativity to fuel an immediate turn around and two wickets fell in two balls. Raghavan Muthukumar followed George's over with a tight over of his own giving away only 1 run. George and Raghavan closed their bowling spells conceding just 4 and 3 runs respectively, and conceded a total of just 10 runs from their four overs.
[81 runs (target 94), 16 overs]

This set the Fireflies a target of 13 runs from the final four overs to win the game. The two Hurricanes bowlers with the tough task of defending these runs were Aryan Pokhriyal and Benjamin Webb. The 17th over started well for the Hurricanes with Aryan bowling a dot ball and then taking a wicket with his second ball, but the third ball went for 5 runs as a result of overthrows - the 17th over ended up going for 7 runs with the loss of a wicket, giving the Fireflies 4 runs. So with three overs left the Fireflies reduced their target to 9 runs to win - advantage Fireflies.
[85 runs (target 94), 17 overs]

The 18th over was a tight one bowled by Benjamin Webb, conceding just 4 runs. With two overs now remaining the Fireflies required just 5 runs to win - Fireflies still favourites.
[89 runs (target 94), 18 overs]

Alfie Saunders and Ethan Brown - who usually play for the Hurricanes and were on loan to the Fireflies for this game - were the final Fireflies batting pair faced with the task of getting the 5 runs to win the game for the Fireflies. But Aryan and Benjamin had other ideas. Aryan struck with the first ball of his second over to increase the Fireflies target to 8 runs. Could the Hurricanes turn the game around? Ethan responded in emphatic fashion by striking two boundaries from balls 4 and 5 of the over, which together with a wide earlier in the over, put the Fireflies ahead of the target by 2 runs. Surely the Fireflies had the game won? Cue another twist...Aryan took a wicket with the last ball of his spell to tie the scores going into the final over of the game.
[93 runs (target 94), 19 overs]

And so it came to the last 6 balls of the game, with the Fireflies requiring a single run to claim victory. The bowler was Benjamin, the batter was Alfie. Ball one was a dot ball, scores still tied.
[93 runs (target 94), 19.1 overs]

The second ball was a wide - disaster for the Hurricanes, as the Fireflies went ahead of the Hurricanes total by 2 runs.
[95 runs (target 94), 19.2 overs]

The third ball was a dot ball - Fireflies still winning by 2.
[95 runs (target 94), 19.3 overs]

Then the fourth ball saw a turnaround in fortunes when Alfie hit the ball in the air straight back to Benjamin, who kept his cool under pressure and took a good return catch, sparking celebrations among his teammates and the watching crowd (at least half of it). Hurricanes winning by 1 run.
[92 runs (target 94), 19.4 overs]

Benjamin bowled an accurate fifth ball. Dot ball. Hurricanes still winning by 1.
[92 runs (target 94), 19.5 overs]

And so we arrived at the final ball of the game with the Fireflies needing 2 runs to win and 1 run to tie. The tension was palpable - the crowd were on the edge of their seats. Benjamin ran up to bowl and delivered another accurate ball. This time Alfie struck the ball into the covers and as the fielders converged on the ball, the batters scampered through for a single. Match tied! The Fireflies also finished on 293 (200 + [114-21]).
[93 runs (target 94), 20 overs]

An incredible end to a roller-coaster of a game and a fitting way to end not just the game, but also finish the league season for the Hurricanes. This breathtaking game was enjoyed by all watching and playing (and umpiring)!

Belhus Cricket Club Hurricanes (Softball) Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
50nb 30w  
for 6 wickets
80
111		        
Yahya Shahbaz Retired Not Out  2 12 16.67
Aaron Mansfield Retired Not Out  1 12 8.33
Arthur Saleem Retired Not Out  0 12 0
Ethan Lucey Retired Not Out  5 12 41.67
Leonardo Picconi Retired Not Out  1 12 8.33
Oscar Cowdrey-Martinez Retired Not Out  0 12 0
George Hill Retired Not Out  9 12 1 75.00
Raghavan Muthukumar Retired Not Out  11 12 1 91.67
Aryan Pokhriyal Retired Not Out  2 12 16.67
Benjamin Webb Retired Not Out  2 12 16.67

Belhus Fireflies (Softball) Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Willow Muckle2.001600.008.00
Isabella Omoregie2.00900.004.50
Aishy Myuran2.001400.007.00
Runa Singh2.001300.006.50
Ruby Allsop-Cadby2.001000.005.00
Ava Thompson2.00522.502.50
Sophie Hill2.001400.007.00
Bella Rees2.0010110.005.00
Alfie Saunders2.001800.009.00
Ethan Brown2.01200.001.00

Belhus Fireflies (Softball) Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
40nb 40w 1b  
for 7 wickets
81
114 (2.0 overs)		     
Willow Muckle Retired Not Out  0 12 0
Isabella Omoregie Retired Not Out  1 12 8.33
Aishy Myuran Retired Not Out  1 12 8.33
Runa Singh Retired Not Out  1 12 8.33
Ruby Allsop-Cadby Retired Not Out  2 12 16.67
Ava Thompson Retired Not Out  5 12 1 41.67
Sophie Hill Retired Not Out  5 12 1 41.67
Bella Rees Retired Not Out  4 12 33.33
Alfie Saunders Retired Not Out  1 12 8.33
Ethan Brown Retired Not Out  13 12 2 108.33

Belhus Cricket Club Hurricanes (Softball) Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Yahya Shahbaz2.00717.003.50
Aaron Mansfield2.001000.005.00
Arthur Saleem2.001700.008.50
Ethan Lucey2.001700.008.50
Leonardo Picconi2.00700.003.50
Oscar Cowdrey-Martinez2.001600.008.00
George Hill2.0011111.005.50
Raghavan Muthukumar2.00400.002.00
Aryan Pokhriyal2.001728.508.50
Benjamin Webb2.00717.003.50