Fun in the Morning Sun

Many thanks to the Largo Lions who came along to Gilvenbank Park for a fantastic morning of Kwik cricket.

Two games played as effectively 12-a-sides thanks to the fantastic turnout by the Lions. With normal Kwik cricket rules applying with batting pairs facing 2 overs each and 52 overs played in total across the two matches - epic indeed!!!

In the first games the Lions won the toss and chose to bat first, but it was Gladiator Alex who struck first with two wickets in the first over - one bowled and the other a great catch by Joe. Cayden (the former Gladiator) for the Lions struck a huge six, with other Lion batters showing good patience also.

But it was Joe who again stepped up to claim an excellent diving caught and bowled. All Gladiators bowlers continued to bowl well with good control, which was also noticeable in the field as Archie and Amy combined to get a run out. It was to be another former Gladiator, Brodie, who struck the biggest 6 of the innings, before Alex and Murdo batted very well together as the final pair to see Largo Lions finish on 78 for 4 wickets from their 14 overs.

Captain Alex opened the batting with Joe in response, both batting excellently to get the Gladiators to a fast start with 27 runs from the first 2 overs faced. A great over by Emily checked things back for the Lions, before a 25 not out run partnership between Amy (two big 6s) and Twinkle brought mid-innings impetus back for the Gladiators.

Dylin was run out in the ninth over - a mixture of him jumping and not grounding his bat as dead-eye Murdo hit the wickets side on from mid-wicket. It was then left to brother and sister Samuel and Clara together at the end, and both did really well, though Murdo was again delighted to game his name in the game with a further wicket. Gladiators finished 93 for 2 wickets from 13 overs - didn't bowl the final over just to push things on a bit.

With each wicket taken whilst bowling resulting in 4 bonus run each being added to your batting score, final scores were Lions 86 for 4 versus Gladiators 107 for 2 - a win by 21 runs for the Gladiators.

The second game again saw the Lions win the toss and again choosing the bat first. Innes and Cayden batted well in the early overs of the innings, to help Lions push to 33 for no wickets from 4 overs. Others batted well also, with Archie striking a good boundary for the Lions - but as per the first innings, it was Gladiator Joe taking a catch (this time off the bowling of Sam) which got the Gladiators moving.

Teeny-Clara bowled well across both games, with Alex claiming a direct hit run-out in her over to check the Lions back, before they finished on 84 for 2 wickets from 12 overs - a much stronger collective effort from the first game.

In response, Captain Joe struck two big 6s off the first 2 balls of the second innings, before Scott also joined him in the fun. But Joe's keenness to go for the big shots cost him, as Cameron caught him first ball of the second over of the bowling of Euan. Some good bowling followed by other Lions bowlers, with Innes in particular bowling well in conceding just 1 run off his over.

It was to be the last batting pair who really turned the game though, as Alex struck three 4s and one 6 to finish 20 not out and guide the Gladiators to a massive 107 for 2 wickets from their 12 overs. With again 4 bonus runs given for each wicket taken the final scores were 92 for 2 to the Lions and 115 for 2 to the Gladiators - a win by 23 runs to the Gladiators.

But as was said to the players at the time, the results really didn't matter - seeing the young cricketers out playing with smiles and showing lots of respect to each other was brilliant. Getting through more than 50 overs of cricket was an amazing effort too so all did really well to maintain the concentration - well, almost ;-)

Many thanks to the Lions for coming along and helping put on such a great morning of cricket.