The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Town kids triumphant
Peterborough Town CC’s reputation for developing top young cricketers was enhanced further on Hunts Junior Finals Day at Upwood CC.
The leading city club won the county Under 13 Final for the third straight season and there was also a repeat success at under nine level under the guidance of Town’s all-round senior star Lewis Bruce who was a child prodigy himself.
An impressive 25 teams started out in the under nine competition with five reaching finals day as last season’s runners-up Waresley, Sawtry, Buckden and Nassington joined Town.
After a full day of quality competition Town and Nassington reached the final which turned out to be a onesided affair.
Teams start with 100 runs in a six-a-side game, but lose five runs every time they lose a wicket and Nassington batsmen were dismissed eight times while accumulating 53 runs for a final score of 113 in 12 overs.
Town then bashed 122 runs in their 12 overs and lost just three wickets for a final score of 207 and a 94-run win.
The winning squad was:
Leo Bruce, Vivechan Matta, Zidaan Shazad, Harry Walton, Seb Phillips, Aaditya Raja and Harry Bruce.
Town won the under 13 final against Godmanchester by seven wickets. In this age group batsmen have to retire at 30 in a 20-over contest and the Town youngsters again delivered a dominant display.
Godmanchester won the toss and decided to bat, but excellent bowling from Krishiv Pandya (3-9), Aarav Poshla (2-7) and Prahlad Easwaran (2-12) helped dismiss them for just 84 in 16 overs and two balls.
And that total was no test for a team who are so used to winning. Captain Oliver Drake continued his outstanding season by retiring on 30 from 35 balls after hitting five fours, while fellow opener Jos Walker made 27 from 29 balls and struck four boundaries as Town with seven wickets and almost seven overs to spare.
Drake has only been dismissed once all season. He is the only player to have played in all three winning Town teams and hit the winning runs in 2022.
The winning squad was:
Oliver Drake, Jos Walker, Leo Massey, Aron Abraham, Aarov Poshla, Adil Thobani, Prahlad Easwaran, Dexter Pierri-Coakley, Ewan Fletcher, Theo Walton, Krishiv Pandya and Tanay Poshla.
Godmanchester retained their under 11 title with a 39run win over Ramsey.
The Under 15 final between Sawtry and Nassington was postponed with a new date yet to be set.