ACADEMY OVERCOME JAKE BALL'S WELBECK

Ben Kitt took 4-35 as Notts Academy beat Welbeck by 14 runs.

Welbeck were all out for 155 chasing 170 for victory after the Academy’s batting effort of 169-8.

Joe New and Jake Libby opened the batting, but just four balls into the innings Libby (0) was bowled by Nottinghamshire bowler Jake Ball (2-1) and Hassan Azad found himself walking to the middle.

In the 10^th over, just as a steady recovery seemed on, New (7) edged to keeper Dave Hunt off Ashley Willis’s bowling (25-2) and Anuj Dal came in.

Willis struck again in the 12^th over bowling Dal for 5 (32-3) and in the same over Azad (15) was run out by Rob French (34-4). Dan Freeman was joined by Adam Tillcock but the latter was bowled for 5 by Richard Stroh in the 17^th over (48-5), Paul Franks coming to the crease.

At drinks (25 overs) the score was 75-5 but in the 30^th over Franks (20) was caught by Jonathan Ball off Andrew Marchant’s bowling (85-6).

Connor Marshall (0) was bowled by Jake Ball in the next over (89-7) but Ben Kitt joined Freeman and they added 37 before Kitt (20) was stumped by Hunt off Jonathan Ball in the 43^rd over (126-8). Elliott Bowles was next in and Dan Freeman reached his fifty in the 45^th over, the pair seeing out the remaining overs to finish 169-8, Freeman 65 not out and Elliott Bowles 16 not out.

Matthew Higgins and Raman Sharma opened the Welbeck reply and had reached 23 by the 6^th over when Sharma went for a single that wasn’t on, Adam Tillcock running him out for 14. Richard Stroh joined Higgins but the latter was caught by Connor Marshall off Dan Freeman’s bowling in the 8^th over, out for 8, the score 24-2. Matt Cross came in next but after 10 overs rain stopped play with the score 41-2.

In the 13^th over Ben Kitt struck twice, bowling Cross (10) and then Jonathan Ball (0) two balls later (49-4). Jake Ball joined Stroh and the last hour started at 7pm with the score 72-4. In the 21^st over the fifty partnership was reached with the score also reaching 100 but next over Adam Tillcock bowled Jake Ball (33), the score 101-5.

Rob French was out in the 23^rd over when caught by Kitt off Jake Tong (111-6).

Andrew Marchant coming in and watched on as Stroh reached his fifty in the 26^th over (134-6). Marchant (4) was caught by Kitt off Elliott Bowles in the 28^th over (140-7) and Dave Hunt joined Stroh but the latter was caught by keeper Joe New off Kitt for 62 in the 29^th over (149-8). Richie Bentley came in and the 150 came up in the 30^th over but Hunt (1) was caught by Dan Freeman off Bowles with the score 151-9.

Last man Ashley Willis came to the crease and Ben Kitt had the job of bowling the final over in the last hour (33^rd) with the score 155-9. Second ball of the over, he bowled Willis (3) to seal the match for the Academy.