Epsom College lay down marker in tournament opener

An opening partnership of 85 between Ben Berry and Nathan Farmer laid the platform for a nine-wicket victory, chasing down a target of 88 with 23 balls to spare

Scorecard

Epsom College produced a confident all-round display which saw them overcome St Paul’s School in the 2024 Cricketer Schools 100 opener.

An opening partnership of 85 between Ben Berry and Nathan Farmer laid the platform for a nine-wicket victory, chasing down a target of 88 with 23 balls to spare.

Berry set the tone in the chase, cutting his first ball away to the boundary for four. The opener sent a big six sailing over midwicket - the tournament’s first maximum - exhibiting power as well as control on his way to an unbeaten 35 (35).

Farmer and Berry continued to harvest runs as Epsom headed towards their target with little trouble. 

Farmer launched a six down the ground to take him to 42 off 39 and his team to 85 without loss. The opener looked to finish the job in style with back-to-back boundaries but fell attempting to come down the wicket, with wicketkeeper Anthony Hillman completing the stumping.

Having won the toss and chosen to field first, Epsom College’s bowlers kept things tight throughout, restricting St Paul’s to just four boundaries in the innings.

St Paul’s were 30-1 at the end of the Powerplay with Nikhil Malik 23 (28) scoring the bulk of the runs, but they couldn’t push on to three figures and beyond in the face of disciplined bowling.

The right-arm spin of Ben Van Emden did the most damage, the Epsom bowler finishing with figures of 3-11 and sending down 10 dot balls from his allotted 20.

St Paul’s edged to 87-6 from their 100, but Berry’s fruitful partnership alongside Farmer saw Epsom home comfortably.

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