Things were shaken up this week at Irby, from unexpected wickets to repeat batting performances. Let's take a look at what happened this week with the Vikings. The 1st XI were at home this week, hosting Southport Trinity CC at Mill Hill Road with some roster switch ups, including a Saturday captaincy debut from Rob Mallon. The team put in an incredible effort on the field, managing to limit Southport to 142 runs, with a stellar contribution from spinner Smit Mehta with 6 wickets.
Despite a valiant effort helmed by Ishan De Silva who scored 45 runs, the team fell short this week, but look ahead to next week where they will face off against Norley Hall CC There was not one, but two Saturday captaincy debuts this week. TJ took the reins of the 2nd XI, with regular captain Nathan receiving his first team call up. In spite of this shake up, the second team managed to maintain their no-loss hot streak against Prestatyn with an all-round contribution from their batsmen, with a notable performance from Steve Venables who added 52 runs to the tally. The side declared with just shy of 200 runs on the board, but despite their skilled bowling attack that contained solid performances from the likes of Sean Delaney (3 wickets), the home side held strong and managed to carve out a draw. Unfortunately the 3rd XI couldn't manage to maintain their winning ways this week whilst hosting Alder at Mill Hill Road. There were some unusual and unexpected performances on the pitch, such as captain Roy Crawford, ditching the gloves and getting a wicket whilst bowling, after also notching 49 runs at the crease, alongside Andy Leigh taking up the gloves and getting a stumping of his own during the fixture. This week the 4th XI managed to steal a win on the road, with an all round team effort contributing to a comprehensive win, with Ryan Anderson and Kyle Vernon taking 7 wickets between them, as well as Andrew Whalley and Matthew Penn managing to knock more than 30 runs each with the bat. The Valkyries this week managed to carry on their incredible run of form, leaving them sat unbeaten at the top of the soft ball league table after a commanding victory over Wallasey on Thursday. Additionally this Sunday saw the quarter finals of the Mike Leddy Cup make its way to Birkenhead park as the joint 3rd and 4th XI cup team looked to advance to the semi finals. Fortunately for the opposition, the fixture was rained off (as pictured by the light drizzle above) after only 10 overs, despite the commanding start by Irby that had their opponents 42-2. There were multiple promising performances which I'm sure will be transferred into this coming week's fixtures for more victories as the club heads into its 75th anniversary weekend. This Saturday at Mill Hill Road the 2nd and 4th XI play host to Bootle and Caldy respectively, the 3rd XI are travelling to Bootle this week, whilst the 1st XI make their way to Norley Hall after a midweek face-off with Parkfield Liscard in the next round Echo Cup. But before all of that the Valkyries have back to back fixtures at the start of the week, looking to maintain their impeccable run of form against Fleetwood Hesketh, and also Neston, who sit just below the Valkyries at the top of the table. This Friday also marks the commencing of the club's 75th anniversary celebrations, so keep your eyes peeled here and on our social media over the next few days for more information and ticket details!
1 Comment
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
June 2024
Categories |