U13 Sabres v Mortimer & West End U13

Sabres Struggle as Mortimer & West End Post Commanding Victory

Sonning U13 Sabres travelled to The Recreation Ground on 10th June for a BYCL Under 13 Challenge (Tier 1) West fixture and were handed a chastening defeat by a Mortimer & West End side who dominated from the moment they won the toss and elected to bat.

The hosts' innings was built on a formidable opening partnership between captain Olly Lapham and George Liddeatt, who put on a commanding stand before both retired not out. Lapham compiled a well-paced 30 from 44 balls, striking three fours, while Liddeatt was the more aggressive of the pair, racing to 32 from 33 deliveries with five boundaries. The pair laid a platform that the Sabres' bowlers struggled to disrupt throughout the first half of the contest.

Sonning's bowling attack was undermined by a costly extras total of 57, including 28 wides and 20 no-balls, which gifted Mortimer nearly a third of their eventual total. Dhruv Reddy Kantigari's two overs proved particularly expensive, conceding 32 runs including eight no-balls and five wides. Captain Divik Gupta also struggled for accuracy, sending down 10 wides in his two overs. Izaan Baloch offered the most disciplined spell with figures of 3-0-8-0, keeping a tight line throughout.

The Sabres did manage to claim four wickets in the latter stages. Jude Alden bowled Freddy Downer for 5, while Utkarsh Sinha trapped the dangerous Albie Priestman lbw for 28 — an innings that had included four fours and a six from just 22 balls. Abhinav Surisetty bowled Ben Pocock for 9, and Yutika Reddy Akula completed a stumping of Mason Scutter for a duck, with wicketkeeper Sinha doing the work behind the stumps. Despite those late breakthroughs, Mortimer posted a daunting 164 for 4 from their 20 overs.

The Sabres' reply never gained any momentum. William Brown struck twice in his opening spell, bowling Dhruv Reddy Kantigari for 3 and having Finley Andrews caught for a duck as Sonning slumped to 5 for 1 and then 12 for 2. Benjamin Priestman then delivered a devastating over, dismissing Izaan Baloch — bowled for 5 after a brief counter-attack that included the innings' only boundary — and having Jude Alden caught without scoring, leaving Sonning reeling at 17 for 4.

Captain Olly Lapham completed an impressive all-round display by bowling Nelisha Widanapathirana for nought, and when Utkarsh Sinha was caught off Daniel Lambert for 2, the Sabres found themselves 23 for 6 with any hope of a competitive chase long extinguished. Ali Shah and captain Divik Gupta offered some resistance in a seventh-wicket partnership worth 16, occupying the crease with 15 and 22 balls respectively, though neither could accelerate the scoring. Shah fell caught off Vincenzo Massarella-Bargus for 2, and Gupta was eventually run out by Freddy Downer for 2.

Freddy Downer then wrapped up the tail in quick succession, dismissing Yutika Reddy Akula and Jaiveer Rathod in the same over, both caught, before Massarella-Bargus needed just a single delivery to complete the rout by removing Gupta's replacement. Sonning were bowled out for 54 in just 12.1 overs, with extras contributing 39 of those runs — a telling statistic that underlined the difficulties faced by both sides' bowlers on the day, but which proved far more damaging in the context of the Sabres' meagre batting total. It was a tough evening for Sonning, who will need to address their discipline with the ball and find greater resilience with the bat as the league campaign progresses.