Last Saturday was a difficult weekend for St Paul’s cricket against Cranleigh, a school with a very strong cricketing pedigree. Only the U14As managed a win. As Mr Harrison reports, it was an epic match, with St Paul’s needing 4 runs off the final ball and 9 wickets down. V. Sharma (28 not out) gracefully clipped the ball for 4 through the leg side to secure victory by 1 wicket. There were strong performances from others, including I. Baijal (3-18) and R. Puri (28). The five remaining junior sides all lost. Notable performances include K. Sornalingam taking 3 wickets for the U15As, and some strong performances from A. Martins (4-17), B. Russel Fraser (3-26), T. Bonomini (30) and A. Whittaker (30 not out) in the U15Bs. The U15Cs lost by just 6 runs with J. Hope (4-9), Z. Okada (41) and N. Cortas (45) impressing. At senior level, the 1st XI went down to a crushing defeat, losing by 184 runs. Cranleigh’s number 5 scored his 3rd century for his School so far this season, and was the difference between the teams. The 2nd XI lost a low scoring thriller by just a single wicket, while both the 3rd and 4th XIs also lost. The 4th XI remained competitive throughout in their first match of season. Earlier in the week, we had more success against Tiffin School. The 1st XI won by 10 wickets, with N. Bowman taking 5-20, his 3rd five wicket haul for the School. The 2nd XI also won, with S. Jones impressing, while the 3rd XI lost a very close match. Our 15Bs also beat Harrodian’s U15s by 3 wickets. This coming week we have mid-week junior fixtures against Westminster, followed by another tough block versus Merchant Taylors’ on Saturday.
Written by Alex Langley, Head of Cricket and Teacher of Biology