Friendly - 30 July 2023
Gloucestershire won by 7 wickets
Venue: Sherborne School
Dorset vs Gloucestershire - U15s County Age Group (T20 Friendly)
In the beautiful grounds of Sherborne School, Gloucestershire U15 should have been playing a 50 over game against Dorset on Sunday 30 July 2023. The weather intervened and a T20 was agreed. Not what Gloucestershire had prepared for but an opportunity to test their skills in the shorter format of the game.
Overcast and the threat of rain ever present, Gloucestershire won the toss and elected to bowl first. Tristan Maree took the new ball with Jack Freebury, who both found the wet conditions difficult. Dorset got off to a solid start, taking advantage of the hard ball and damp conditions. It was Maree who brought the breakthrough in the 5th over when Leo Cooke skied one to Toby O'Neill in what was to be his first of two catches of the day. Harrison Tegg replaced Freebury and saw success when the ball was pitched up, clean bowling Ben Lacey. Dorset's Fred Boger was on the attack and accelerating the run rate, as Benkenstein turned to spin to try and slow things down. Having brought himself on, without success, he threw the ball to Akshat Khrishna who brought success in his second over, claiming the wicket of dominant Boger for 35 and more importantly clawing back the run rate. Krishna ended with figures of 2 for 10 from 3. Wickets then began to tumble, from 72 for 3 to 89 for 9. Not allowing the batsmen to settle, Benkenstein rotated his bowlers with success, with Harry Bryan and Luke Pavey Edwards, each picking up wickets, Bryan 2 for 4, taking advantage of his height to exploit the bounce on a sticky wicket. Chasing 111 for victory, Gloucestershire needed a little of 5.5 an over.
Harrison Tegg and Wilf Newton took charge from ball one. Excellent running between the wickets, as well as taking advantage of the loose ball, Tegg hit two big sixes in a 21 ball 33, with Newton playing a supporting role. Newton, the man in, took charge and dominated the bowling, carrying his bat in the process for an unbeaten 49. James Burton replaced Tegg, who was caught at long off. Nudging the ball to rotate the strike Burton and Newton put on 30 before being trapped bang in front for 16. Benkenstein came and went with a quick 7 only to be replaced by Akshat Khrishna needing 6 to win. This proved no trouble for the batting pair who reached the total with 8 balls to spare.