Shrewsbury School U15s claim county T20 title in run-fest
Shrewsbury School claimed the Shropshire Schools ECB/ESCA U15 T20 trophy in a high-scoring final against Ellesmere College.
Hosting the game, Shrewsbury batted first and struggled to 56-3 off 10 overs due to some tight bowling and good fielding from the visitors.
However, a magnificent unbroken partnership of 141 for the fourth wicket between Arjan Barard, (80 off 51), and Hugo Odd (51 off 29) saw Shrewsbury to finish their innings on 192-3.
James Skillicorn with two wickets & Ralph Cornwell were the successful Ellesmere bowlers.
Ellesmere’s reply began with an excellent 49-run partnership off 31 balls for the 1st wicket between Ollie Dyson who finished the innings on an unbeaten 96 off 64 balls and Harry Walker (16).
However, once spinners Barard & Bryan Mudalige (two wickets) came into the attack, runs became harder to come by and wickets began to fall.
Another fine partnership of 92 off 55 balls for the fifth wicket between Dyson & Henry Roberts (21) helped Ellesmere to reach 164-4 at the conclusion of their innings to give Shrewsbury victory by 28 runs.
The Player of the Match award was shared by Dyson & Barard for their outstanding batting.
Shrewsbury then went on to beat the Herefordshire champions Cathedral School by 181 runs in the first Midlands regional round.
Barard again starred with the bat hitting 81 backed up by Will Parkinson Witte (36) and Oscar Howarth (24). Cathedral were then bowled out for 37 with Harry Inkin claiming 3-20 and Reubin Kundu 3-0.
Shrewsbury now host Staffordshire winners Denstone College in the quarter-finals with the winners qualifying for Finals Day at Shrewsbury School on June 23.
