Success in local cricket derby
On Tuesday, Warminster School hosted the annual Duke of Kent Cup, a 20/20 cricket match against local rivals Kingdown School.
Losing the toss on a slow track, Warminster were asked to bat first. George Elliott and Charles Dunn were looking to make amends for Saturday’s game against the Old Verlucians with a solid opening partnership. The ball, when pitched up, was hard to get away. Charles was keen to get after any ball that was full whilst George looked for the quick singles. The partnership was broken when Charles was bowled for 25 runs, with the score on 45 in the 11th over. Warminster now needed to up the run rate and Thomas Jeffrey was keen to use some bottom hand. A couple of quick fours helped but then two wickets in three balls put the brakes on.
At 71-3 after 16 overs it was imperative that Warminster put in some big overs to give them a respectable score. George and new batsman Charlie Tippetts responded, putting pressure on the Kingdown bowlers and managing 18 runs from the 17th over. George then began to open up with some lovely ground shots and eventually ended up 49 not out with the final score on 114-4 after Warminster’s allocated overs.
Charlie Collins and Will Smith opened the bowling for Warminster and applied some good early pressure. The key was to get the ball pitched up. After 5 overs the score was 18-0 but it required Tom Jeffrey, who was ill on Saturday, to make the breakthrough. Two wickets fell in two balls: first a catch for George Elliott and then an LBW decision. After 8 overs Kingdown were struggling on 22-2. However, their skipper Aiden Davidson started to open up and by the 12th over the score had raced to 56-2.
The 13th over saw captain Charlie Collins turn to spin but it was George Elliott who made the immediate breakthrough having Gilmore trapped LBW. In his third ball Felix Freeston reached and grabbed a spectacular catch to capture Kingdown’s fourth wicket leaving them 58-4. However, another strong over by Kingdown followed, 12 more runs putting them back in the driving seat. George Elliott returned for his second over and, again with his first and third balls, captured another two wickets. Charlie Collins was then able to close the game down and, by taking the key wicket of Davidson for 40, Kingdown eventually ended up 14 runs short.
This was a great local derby and a great game. Well done to all involved. The player of the match was George Elliott for his 49 not out and bowling figures of 4-15.
Christopher Knight
Director of Sport